Race To Cybertron
by Kodi Prime
Summary: Transformers fan fiction. Told from the point of view of my OC, Clara. Hopefully it will be updated regularly.
1. Prologue

**Episode 1**

**Prologue**

I'd like to say that this is a happy story about happy people in a happy land. But it isn't. This is a story about real life, and real life is never happy. You live and you die. All the time in between is just torture. And that's at the best of times. This story takes place during what seems to be a constant war. That's about 10 million times worse than normal life. Nobody can remember when the war started, and it certainly isn't getting any closer to finishing. But this story isn't about the origins of a war. This story begins on a dark night, around the forest area of a Rogue village. I was 7, on my way home from….something. It seems like so long ago, I don't even remember what it was.

The forest was dark, and it scared me. I'd heard stories about that forest. Ghost stories. Everyone told me about the ghosts, so I wasn't sure whether they were true or not. Still, everyone could always here the strange sounds coming from the forest. That wasn't anything strange, it happened in all forests….didn't it? I heard a twig snap and jumped back, barely holding back a scream. I could sense someone there, watching me. I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing. There was nothing there. I was just imagining things. I was just upset because I'd been having the nightmares. The nightmares about Luke. I hadn't told anyone but Tessa about those nightmares. I told Tessa everything. It was just a dream though, why was I getting so scared about it? I opened my eyes and glanced at the forest again. Nothing there. I turned away, heading back in the direction of home. That's when it happened. I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. Someone in the forest, coming in my direction. I'd like to tell you I wasn't scared at all, that I stood my ground in the face of this threat, but that would be lying. The truth is, I screamed and started running home. I could hear him behind me. He was just walking, taking his time. I don't know why. I guess he knew he would get me anyway. His laughter was something I'll never be able to get out of my head. I could feel his footsteps shaking the ground. The nearest source of light was behind us, so his shadow was stretched out on the ground in front of me. He didn't say anything. Just laughed as he came after me.  
>I don't know why he let me get home. Why he didn't catch me before then, when he would have been perfectly able to. But I do know that that's probably what saved my life that night. I found myself running into the house and almost slammed into Tessa, who caught me and laughed.<br>"Wow, you're in a rush, Clara!"  
>"There's a….there's a-"<br>"There's a what?"  
>"A man!"<br>Tessa looked at me, her smile fading.  
>"Clara, there are always men walking about out there. You know that."<br>"But he's chasing me!"  
>Tessa frowned.<br>"Are you sure, Clara?"  
>"Yeah! He came out of the forest and came after me!"<br>Luke came into the room at that moment and picked me up. Okay, so maybe I owed it to him to tell him about the dreams, but that wasn't gonna happen now – I was too scared. I didn't realise then that that was actually my last chance to tell him. Tessa had gone through to another room to look through the window for the man. She must've seen him, because she let out a startled squeak and came running back to us.  
>"What happens now?" I asked them.<br>"We'll keep you safe, Clara." Luke said, "We'll keep you safe forever." He smiled, and for a moment all the worry left his face. "I promise."  
>His promise calmed me down a little, but I could sense the tension in the air. I'm good with emotions. I can usually sense what somebody's feeling, so long as they're feeling it strongly enough.<br>Somebody banged hard on the door and I shrieked.  
>"We have to get her away from him!" Tessa said, taking me from Luke and running in a random direction. We found ourselves in the basement. Tessa hid behind a stack of crates, holding me to her tightly.<br>"Do you promise too?" I found myself asking her.  
>Tessa looked at me for a moment.<br>"I promise too. I'll keep you safe forever."  
>I felt safe then. I guess back then I liked the feeling of being protected. We heard the front door crash to the ground above us, and there was yelling. Another crash, as if someone had been thrown to the floor. We could hear someone coming down the stairs towards us. Then something happened to Tessa. She stiffened, her eyes wide, and then her whole body went limp. I thought we were still safe. That she'd just gone to sleep or something. I was just a child.<br>At that moment someone grabbed me, picking me up easily with one hand. I shrieked and I struggled, but I couldn't do anything. I could only shriek and struggle harmlessly while he carried me upstairs and out of the house, taking me towards the forest. I didn't want to go in there. I was helpless, just waiting for someone to come along and save me. Nobody did. Why would they? It was easier to just pretend nothing was happening and let him take me.

Somewhere, a long way away from the Rogue village that I called my home, 2 years after that night, an Autobot village was being seized by the Decepticons. There was a boy, 10 years old, caught in the middle of the fighting. He was just standing there, frozen in fear, oblivious to the bullets flying around him. He was an Autobot boy, his father fighting to protect their home against the threat.  
>The boy was completely oblivious to the stray bullet that was hurtling towards his back. If that bullet had hit him, it would've killed him instantly. He was lucky. His father was nearby, and he dragged him out of the way just as the bullet whizzed past. The man picked up his son and ran with him to the edge of the village.<br>"Optimus, listen to me!" he yelled. The boy looked at him, trying to keep his body from shaking. "Optimus, you've got to get out of here!"  
>"But-"<br>"No buts, Optimus. Run now! Get as far away from here as possible. I'll catch up!"  
>Optimus didn't want to go, but he knew he'd just get in the way if he stayed. If he stayed, his father may even die as a result. How would he be able to live with knowing that that was his fault? And that was if he even survived in the first place. Unable to disobey his father's command, he nodded. His father hugged him, and he ran.<p> 


	2. Episode 1 Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I winced as Starscream looked at me again. Damn, I hated that man. His red eyes glared at me for a minute, and I felt like they were looking right into my soul. I didn't like it. It wasn't good. It brought back all my worst memories, and trust me – I'd had my fair share of bad experiences. My life was full of them. Finally he turned away and headed into another room. I didn't stick around. I was out of the door and running down the street the second the door shut behind him.  
>It wasn't long before I was forced to stop. I'd reached the forest. I'd taken a wrong turn in that stupid maze of Decepticon buildings, and now the forest was the only way I could go. I found myself backing away. I'd only been in there once, but it wasn't an experience I was in any rush to repeat. I'd promised myself I would never go in there again. I turned and started away, and that was when I heard the drums.<br>I don't know how many times I'd heard the drums. I don't even know if I'd ever really heard them at all, or if they'd always been a part of my imagination. Either way, hearing them now almost made me run back to Starscream. Almost.  
>I could hear him even over the drums. He'd found out I was gone. He was coming after me. Asking passers-by if they'd seen which way I'd gone. They wouldn't lie to him on my behalf. They were Decepticons, and I was a Rogue. Why would they do anything for me? Besides, they were clueless to the sort of things Starscream did to me when we were alone together. I <em>couldn't<em> go back to him. I found a small alleyway between two of the buildings and ran down it. It twisted and it turned and it led to a dead end. What the hell? There was nothing between the road I'd just been on and where I was now. Why was the alleyway even there? I looked around desperately, frantically searching for a way out that I might've missed. There was nothing. I could here noises echoing up the alley towards me. Starscream had come in after me. I tried to break through the wall. I was strong for a girl, or so I'm told. But even with desperation and fear lending me strength, that wall was laughing at me. Starscream was getting closer. He was alone, thankfully, so I still had some kind of chance. I found myself backed against the wall, listening to Starsctream's running footsteps getting closer, and my hopes of defeating him were dashed as I heard more Decepticons running down the alleyway after him. I thought I could hear something else as well, as if there was something – or someone – on the roof somewhere behind me. But I wasn't really paying attention to that. My hopes of even surviving this were disappearing rapidly. But then a thought then a thought I'd been pondering since I was 7 came back to haunt me. Maybe that was a good thing. Maybe my life just wasn't worth living anymore. Maybe it was best to give up. Stop fighting a never ending battle and just let go. It would be a lot easier that way. The voice of reason that always came in at that point and pointed out how pointless suicide is didn't come this time. Maybe because at that moment Starscream ran round the corner with three of his cronies. His friends skidded to a halt and watched and laughed as Starscream slammed into me, pinning me to the wall with his hand at my throat. My feet were about a metre off the ground. Suddenly his friends fell silent. For a moment I thought that was it. It was finally over. But then there was a loud bang and the world shook. Starscream swore and dropped me, spinning around to face something that had dropped out of the sky. I fell to the ground, coughing and clutching at my throat. I wasn't dead. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Then I realised everything had gone silent again. I looked up. Starscream and the others were on the ground, unconscious or dead, I didn't want to know. There was someone else there. A man. He was watching me curiously. I felt my spark jump in its chamber as I looked up at him.  
>"You all right?" he asked, holding out holding out his hand to help me up.<br>I nodded and took his hand, letting him pull me to my feet. I couldn't see him very well, but I knew for sure that I had never heard his voice before. It was deep and slightly gruff, but there was something soothing about it as well. All I could see of him were his bright blue eyes. There was something comforting about him, like I felt safe with him.  
>Which was crazy since I'd only just met the guy.<br>Still, I hadn't felt safe in so long….there was something special about this man.  
>"You shouldn't have saved me." I said quietly. The part of my mind that was swooning at him must've been staring at me in shock for being so inconsiderate to him. Still, it was the truth.<br>He rolled his eyes, which I took as a good sign.  
>"You're welcome." He said sarcastically.<br>Well, at least he didn't get mad.  
>"What's your name?" he asked me, leading me back down the alley. I didn't hesitate. I just followed him.<br>"Clara." I replied. I know what you're thinking. Some stranger comes up to you and randomly starts asking you questions, you're supposed to run in the opposite direction. Looking back on it, I think I was mad. But it made perfect sense at the time. I guess I owed it to him to answer his questions, considering he'd just saved my life.  
>"I'm-" the stranger started to say something but was cut off when a girl ran up the alleyway towards us, yelling angrily at him. She was probably younger than me, though it's impossible to tell with Cybertronians, and she only came up to my waist.<br>"OPTIMUS PRIME!" she was yelling, "We're supposed to be spying on the Decepticons! You can't just go and randomly beat them up."  
>Okay, I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I was sure yelling about a mission to spy on the Decepticons, while in the middle of Decepticon territory, wasn't exactly the best idea in the world.<br>Optimus sighed.  
>"Arcee, stop shouting at me. You'll jeopardise the whole mission."<br>"Oh, _I'll _jeopardise the mission?" Arcee demanded. "Who's the one going round beating up Decepticons?"  
>"You're Autobots." I said warily, taking a step away from them, automatically raising my battle mask.<br>Like I said I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. I'd only just realised I recognised Optimus' name. My half-sister was obsessed with the guy.  
>Arcee seemed to notice me for the first time. Her blue eyes widened.<br>"You brought a Decepticon with you?" she yelled, pulling a gun out and pointing it at me. I heard Optimus sigh again next to me.  
>"Clara's a Rogue, genius." He scolded.<br>Arcee didn't move. Clearly she didn't trust Rogues any more than she did Decepticons. Fair enough. It's not like I was in any hurry to-  
>"Stand down, you two." Optimus ordered. Arcee reluctantly did as she was told, and the authority in his voice shocked even me into obeying. Hey, since when did I follow orders? I never even did what my dad asked me to do!<br>So I was pretty much in a bad mood, and then, to make matters worse, that was when the drums started.  
>I don't know how long I stood there, frozen in fear, but next thing I knew was Optimus waving a hand in front of my face.<br>"Um, sorry, what?"  
>"Oh, wonderful." Arcee muttered, "Couldn't you find someone who isn't stupid?"<br>Optimus sighed and ignored her.  
>"Are you okay?" he asked me. I nodded timidly. "Just ignore Arcee. She doesn't like Rogues. You haven't done anything wrong."<br>Arcee glared at him.  
>"I'm gonna radio Sentinel." She stalked off angrily and Optimus led me back to the main road.<br>"Don't worry about her. She gets touchy if we're out of Autobot territory for too long. She had a mishap with a Rogue a few years back and she hasn't really got over it." Optimus thought for a minute. "Or she might just be doing it to get at me. Either way, just ignore her. She'll come round. Eventually.  
>"How did you know I'm a Rogue?" I asked him curiously.<br>"Your name." he said as we walked. "Your dad's in charge of the Rogues, right?"  
>I nodded and looked at the forest fearfully. Optimus glanced at it.<br>"You don't like the forest." It wasn't a question, more of a prompt. Like he was encouraging me to open up to him.  
>"It's not so much the forest as what's in there." I said quietly, "but the forest itself freaks me out as well." I admitted.<br>I guess I should explain. There's only one forest on Cybertron, but it's so big it stretches into all territories. Rogue, Autobot and Decepticon. It's very big and very dangerous.  
>Optimus was nodding understandingly.<br>"Have you ever been in there?" I asked him.  
>"No." Optimus was leading me away from the forest now. Towards the outskirts of the Decepticon territory. "I wanted to when I was young, but Sentinel never let me anywhere near it. I've been too busy since then, with the war."<br>I nodded, almost disappointed. I'd never met anyone else who'd gone in. Only Luke and Tessa, who had never came out. I didn't like being so isolated from everyone else.  
>"Trust me." I found myself saying bitterly, "You don't want to go in there."<br>He looked at me curiously and I got the feeling he wanted to say more, but at that moment Arcee trudged over.  
>"She's coming with us." She said bitterly.<br>"What?" I asked, shocked.  
>"Sentinel's orders." Arcee said angrily.<br>"Unfortunately, I think I know what this is about." I sighed.  
>Optimus looked at me sympathetically.<br>"I'm heading back to base." Arcee said, ignoring me completely and talking to Optimus. She turned and ran off and Optimus sighed.  
>"Arcee takes a long time getting over grudges." He muttered.<br>I looked at him curiously but thought better than asking. It wasn't any of my business.  
>"So what are you doing in Decepticon territory?" Optimus asked.<br>I could tell he was just trying to make conversation, but I really preferred walking in silence.  
>"Long story." I said quietly.<br>Optimus looked at me but the tone of my voice must've told him that the subject was closed. Or maybe he just gave me up as a lost cause. He wouldn't be the first one.  
>To be honest, I wasn't really willing to get into anything with Optimus Prime. I knew enough about him to be sure that would be a bad idea. He was Cybertron's heart throb. As far as I knew, he'd never actually loved anyone properly. He was a player. He'd had loads of girlfriends, and nearly all the girls on this planet were his fangirls. I was one of the few exceptions to that rule. I don't know why, but he just seemed really moody to me. I liked the thought of being someone who believed in reality rather than the fantasy that some girls had chosen. What would someone like Optimus Prime see in a lowly Rogue mechanic like me? I mean, aside from whom my father was, which was why most Cybertronians, such as Starscream, took any interest in me.<br>I'd heard a lot about Optimus, thanks to my half-sister, and the only thing about his social life that I actually liked was that he'd never actually kissed a girl. He'd never shown any outwardly signs of affection to anyone. That was something those girls had tricked themselves into thinking to make them feel better about themselves, or to be more popular with their friends.

Sad.


	3. E1 Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

We were finally out of Decepticon territory, but I had mixed feelings about being back on Rogue turf. Especially since we were walking right along the edge of the forest. I kept looking around nervously, barely listening to Optimus, who was talking about the crappy teleports and other equipment they had to use, and low recruitment rates.  
>"So what's your family like?" he asked suddenly.<br>I knew he didn't mean any harm by it. It was just an innocent question asked purely out of curiosity. But the way I stiffened must have told him that topic wasn't one I was willing to discuss.  
>"Sorry." He said quickly, "I didn't mean-"<br>"Don't worry about it." I interrupted, "It doesn't matter."  
>Optimus gave me an apologetic look and looked at the sky.<br>"We're not gonna be getting to Autobot territory any time soon." He said, eager to change the subject, "We might as well stay here until morning."  
>I shook my head.<br>"There's a village a couple of minutes walk from here. We can spend the night there." I wasn't exactly jumping for joy at going back to my hometown, but there was no way I was going to spend a night this close to the forest.

It didn't take us long to get there, even though I was trying to delay our arrival. We were closer to the village than I'd realised. I took Optimus to the centre of the village, where one of the buildings was bigger and grander than the others. Optimus could probably tell how reluctant I was as I led him inside, but he didn't say anything. I led him through to the main room, where my dad was having a conversation with one of the maids. He sent her away as soon as he saw us and hugged me.  
>"Clara! I was wondering when you were going to come back." He pulled away and nodded a greeting to Optimus. "Optimus. It's been a while. I take it Clara brought you here?"<br>Optimus nodded. My dad did a lot of business with both Autobots and Decepticons, so I wasn't really surprised that they knew each other.  
>My father looked at me.<br>"I get the feeling you're not staying here very long." He said reluctantly, like just saying that would make me disappear.  
>I shook my head.<br>"We just need a place to stay the night." I said quietly, half of me hoping he wouldn't hear me. But he nodded.  
>"Of course. But make sure you come and visit more often this time."<br>I didn't answer. I hated making promises I couldn't keep. I would visit a lot more often if we didn't live in this house, and he knew that. But that didn't mean he actually understood it. If he did we wouldn't be in that situation.  
>At that moment Kaitlynn came in. She didn't look very happy about seeing me there. Then again, she never did. She glanced at Optimus, and her eyes widened.<br>"You're….You're Optimus Prime!" She could barely contain her excitement at meeting her idol. Beside me, Optimus face-palmed. I was shaking my head in embarrassment. My father sighed.  
>"Kaitlynn, please don't start anything here. Leave him alone."<br>Optimus peered at her.  
>"You know I'm over twenty times your age right?"<br>"Yeah, so?"  
>"Kaitlynn." My dad sighed. "Optimus and Clara aren't staying here long, they'll be gone by morning. Please leave them alone. Just for tonight."<br>Kaitlynn pulled a face and disappeared.  
>"Sorry about that." My father said to Optimus.<br>Optimus shook his head.  
>"I'm used to it."<br>My father led him out of the room and, now I was alone, I took the chance to look around. I'd been gone a long time, but nothing had really changed. I still found myself wincing at the photos of Luke and Tessa that were around the room. I waited in there for about a minute before I left. I couldn't just stay in that room. And it wasn't just that room. It was the whole house. I couldn't stand being surrounded by so many painful memories all the time. It was why I had left in the first place. This house hadn't been my home since I was 7. I reached the kitchen and thought for a minute. It would be hard, but I had to recharge. According to my dad, Autobot territory was a days journey from here, so we wouldn't be taking any breaks if we wanted to get there by nightfall tomorrow. I had to recharge if I didn't want to slow Optimus down. I pulled a face and headed upstairs. My old room hadn't changed at all. Nobody had gone in there, judging by the amount of dust, but I would be fine, considering I was just staying for one night.

I was woken in the morning by a bright light shining through my window. I thought for a minute and remembered the night before. Just the memory of where I was, was enough to get me out of my berth and tearing down the stairs like a bullet from a gun. I almost crashed into Optimus, who was at the bottom of the stairs, but I stopped myself in time.  
>"You look like you've seen a ghost." He commented, looking at me curiously.<br>"Probably," I agreed. "Can we go?"  
>He frowned.<br>"What's got into you?" he asked me.  
>"Nothing. Please can we go?"<br>He nodded, still giving me worried looks.  
>Even so, it was still another 10 minutes at least before we left, because of my dad's habit of trying to come up with reasons for us to stay. I was trying to get us out of there as quickly as possible without hurting his feelings. Finally he let us go and we soon left the village far behind.<br>"What's going on?" Optimus asked me as we walked.  
>"Nothing." I said, "I just couldn't spend any more time in there. There's a reason I left."<br>I was probably a bit harsh to him, but I was seriously freaked out at being in the house so long. I wasn't paying attention to what I was saying. He didn't say anything, so I don't know if he was offended or not. I hoped he wasn't. I was, maybe, starting to warm up to him. I may have even been enjoying his company. The part of my mind swooning over him was starting to spread.  
>"I'm sorry." I said quietly. "I shouldn't have started on you."<br>Optimus tilted his head, looking at me.  
>"It's okay. You don't have to apologise."<br>Soon we were following the forest again. I didn't like it, but I didn't say anything. Much to my surprise, Optimus insisted on walking between me and it, like he was trying to make me feel better. It worked. A little.  
>"What happened?" Optimus asked me as we walked.<br>"What happened with what?" I asked, confused.  
>"You've been in the forest, and now you're afraid of it. What happened?"<br>I winced slightly.  
>"I don't really want to talk about that while we're this close."<br>Optimus nodded like he wasn't really surprised. We walked in silence for a few minutes.  
>"Why were you in Decepticon territory?" he asked me, "I mean, I just need to know before we get onto Autobot turf."<br>I shrugged.  
>"I don't like staying at home, so dad sent me there to cool off for a while." I told him, "He hoped it would make me feel more comfortable being at home, but I guess it didn't."<br>"Why don't you like being at home?"  
>"Too many painful memories." I admitted quietly.<br>He nodded and gave me a sympathetic look, like he knew what it was like.  
>A few more minutes of silence fell, and then Optimus stopped walking so suddenly I almost walked into him. He was just standing there, staring at the forest.<br>"Do you get the feeling someone's watching us?" he asked quietly.  
>He'd kept looking over his shoulder as we walked, which had been ever so steadily raising my 'freak-out' levels until I felt like running away. I didn't though. Something told me that would be a bad idea.<br>"I always feel like that." I replied, "Never this bad though." I watched him for a moment. "Why is everything so quiet?" I asked suddenly, unable to keep the fearful trill out of my voice.  
>Optimus glanced at me. Everything was completely silent. There wasn't any bird song, no chirping of insects in the grass, not even the sound of the wind rustling through the trees. I looked up. Everything was still. It was like Optimus and me were the only living things on the face of the earth. So why did we feel like we were being watched? It wasn't an unusual feeling for me. Like I'd told Optimus, I always feel like that. But nobody else ever felt the same way. That just freaked me out even more. Until now I'd always put it down to my overactive imagination, stress, the dreams I was always having, the memories of the night Luke had died, and later on Tessa. I'd never stopped to consider the thought that someone might actually have been watching me all that time. The thought was too crazy. But maybe there was.<br>"Maybe we should go." I said slowly. I hated myself for being like such a coward, but I was really starting to get freaked out. Optimus nodded in agreement, backing away from the forest slowly.

It was nightfall by the time we finally reached Autobot territory. I could tell Optimus was relieved to be there. It was obvious from the look on his face and the way the tension left his body as we crossed the border. Eventually we reached a small cluster of buildings that must've been an Autobot village. It didn't look like much, all run down and falling apart, but Optimus seemed glad to see it again. I wondered what it was like to leave a place and be upset at the thought that you might never see it again. I didn't have a place in my life that meant that much to me. There wasn't anyone around. The place was a ghost town. I remembered what Optimus had said the night before about not being able to afford anything better, and I felt guilty. The Rogues and Decepticons were well off, why should the Autobots be the only ones that weren't? I didn't say anything as Optimus led me to a small building in the middle of the village that was no bigger or grander than any of the others. There was a leopard-like Autobot curled up outside the door. The first living thing I'd seen since we'd left Rogue territory. She stood up and came over as we approached, looking at me warily.  
>"How bad is it in there?" Optimus asked, scratching her behind the ears.<br>"Bad." She replied. "Sentinel is very angry."  
>"How come?"<br>She shrugged.  
>"I don't know. You'll have to ask him."<br>Optimus glanced at me.  
>"Sorry, I haven't introduced you. Clara, this is Roxy. Roxy, Clara."<br>Roxy nodded to me in greeting.  
>"Nice to meet you." she gave Optimus a warning look and padded off.<br>Optimus led me inside. It wasn't much better than the outside. The corridor Optimus led me through was dark, with cracked walls and a well-worn floor. I could hear hushed voices up ahead. Although I couldn't make out what they were saying, I could hear 3 voices. All of them were male. I didn't recognise any of them. One sounded angry, like he was close to shouting. One sounded anxious, like he was desperately trying to convince someone of something. The third didn't say much, but he sounded bored, like he didn't really know why he'd bothered to come.  
>The voices hushed down as we approached the door. They could hear us. Optimus gave me an encouraging look, which was comforting, and pushed the door open, leading me inside.<p> 


	4. E1 Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**  
>There were four Autobots in the room. The only one I recognised was Arcee. The others I didn't know. One was tall. Taller than Optimus and me. He held a spear in his hand and had an angry expression on his face. The other two were shorter. All four were staring at me as we came in. Optimus knelt down to the tall Autobot. Uncertain, I followed his lead.<br>The Autobot gestured for Optimus to stand, and then turned to me.  
>"You're Clara?" he asked.<br>"Yes sir." Don't ask me why I said 'sir'. It just felt right.  
>"Stand up."<br>I did as I was told, mostly because I hated kneeling down. I tried to ignore the stares of the other Autobots in the room, but it was like their eyes were burning into me. Optimus wasn't looking at me or giving me any hints as to what I should do. He had his head tilted, watching one of the smaller Autobots gesturing to him frantically.  
>"I am Sentinel Prime. Leader of the Autobots." Yeah, I'd kind of figured that. "You've already met my first lieutenant, Optimus Prime, and Arcee. Also here are my medical officer, Ratchet, and my weapons specialist, Ironhide." Okay, while it was nice to know who was in the room staring at me, this guy was rambling. Problem was, I already had a good guess as to where this was going. "I know your father. He's a good man." Sentinel looked at me. "But this isn't about him."<br>I blinked. Okay, I was wrong. This wasn't about my father? So this wasn't about the territory, like I'd thought it would be. That territory was the only reason people ever took any interest in me, but this guy wasn't interested in it at all. What did he want with me?  
>Sentinel was looking at me closely.<br>"No, this isn't about the territory." He said, "I saw your father quite recently. I know all about your time in Decepticon territory, and why you've turned out the way you have." Where was this going? I didn't really care who my father spoke to. That was his business, not mine. Besides, I'd already met quite a few of them and they weren't the kind of people I was jumping to get to know.  
>"Have you ever handled a weapon before, Clara?"<br>"No. There's never been any need."  
>Sentinel nodded absently.<br>"Right. Ironhide can help you out there." he peered at me. "We were actually arguing about my decision before you arrived. Ratchet doesn't think it's a very good idea, which I find very annoying."  
>"Sentinel." Optimus growled. He looked just as frustrated as I felt. "Will you <em>please <em>stop talking in riddles and actually tell us what's going on?"  
>Sentinel gave him an annoyed look.<br>"Very well." He turned back to me. "Clara, we're running very low on recruits. We're lucky if we get one every two months at most, and what few recruits we are getting, Optimus scares away." He glared at Optimus.  
>"What?" Optimus demanded, "They were all fangirls."<br>"Anyway," Sentinel said loudly, changing the subject, "I think you may have some potential. So, I'm asking you to become an Autobot."  
>I blinked. This was rather….sudden. I opened my mouth to say something but he held up his hand, cutting me off.<br>"Don't decide yet. You need to know what you're getting yourself into first. You'll need a teacher, and I think I know just the person for the job." He turned to Optimus, "Remember me asking you if you wanted to be a teacher?"  
>"Remember me saying 'no'?"<br>"You didn't say no."  
>"Not in those words. I said I was never ever <em>ever<em> gonna teach."  
>Sentinel face-palmed.<br>"Optimus," he said through his fingers, "Please. Just teach her everything I taught you and you'll be fine. Now, where was I? Oh yes." He turned back to me. "I'll have to have Ironhide help you find an appropriate weapon, of course. You'll be doing all your training with Optimus. He'll be responsible for you." he looked pointedly at Optimus, "He'll teach you the Rules of Conduct and help you with your weapons training. If you have any problems, just go to him. Oh, and, ah….try not to pick up any bad habits."  
>Sentinel looked around at the other Autobots gathered in the room.<br>"I think that covers just about everything. Don't decide on anything yet, sleep on it first." He turned to Ironhide, "Could you please show Clara to her room?"  
>Ironhide nodded and led me out of the room. I was just happy to be away from everybody's stares.<br>"Why is Ratchet so against me becoming an Autobot?" I asked him.  
>"You're a Rogue." Ironhide replied, "That's all the reason he needs."<br>"What do you think?"  
>"I think we should make decisions based on personality and effort, not the kind of background the candidate comes from. I'm all for you becoming an Autobot so long as you prove that you're 100% loyal and you're willing to put the effort in."<br>"So why does Sentinel want me to become an Autobot in the first place?"  
>"Like he said, we have literally no new recruits at the moment. Besides, your father said you might be interested, apparently."<br>I blinked.  
>"He did?"<br>"According to Sentinel, yeah." He looked at me. "So what are you deciding on at the moment?"  
>"I don't know what I'll think in the morning, but at the moment….while I am thinking that Sentinel is very possibly crazy for even suggesting it, I think I would take him up on his offer if he were to ask me now."<br>Ironhide nodded, smiling.  
>"Sentinel's made some crazy decisions in his time. It's up to you whether this becomes one of them or not.<br>"What did he mean when he told me not to pick up any bad habits?"  
>Ironhide laughed.<br>"It's not rare for a student to pick up bad habits from their teacher. Optimus has quite a few bad habits, and Sentinel would rather not have a duplicate."  
>"What kind of bad habits?"<br>"Well….most of our drills are at night, because that's be when the Decepticons are most likely to attack, but Optimus has a really annoying habit of sleeping right through the alarm. Roxy and I are always sent to wake him up, but he is literally dead to the world. It may seem funny, and most of the time it is, but Sentinel gets worried. Optimus is one of our best fighters, and there aren't many of us anyway. If it was a real attack, and he did that, we'd be doomed." He smiled. "He also breaks a lot of rules. Sentinel often complains that if he had a penny for every time he's had to break Optimus out of jail, we'd all be rich. And that's not even counting the number of times Optimus has been thrown in jail and broke out by himself, which is probably twice as much." He looked at me, "Sentinel just doesn't want you going the same way."  
>I nodded understandingly. Ironhide looked me up and down.<br>"You don't really trust any of us." He commented.  
>"I don't know any of you."<br>"So what do you do, if you're not a fighter?"  
>"I'm a mechanic."<br>Ironhide looked at me with a new interest.  
>"You make much?"<br>"Yeah. But I mostly fix things. Some of the people in my village have a habit of breaking weapons in very imaginative ways."  
>Ironhide rolled his eyes.<br>"Tell me about it. Are you any good?"  
>"I guess so. I get a lot of customers, so that must count for something."<br>Ironhide nodded and we walked in comfortable silence until we reached a small room. Ironhide flicked the light on. This room was tiny. There were two single beds shoved in, taking up all the space. They were pushed right against all four walls and each other, leaving hardly enough space to breathe, let alone move around. I wasn't claustrophobic, so the confined space wasn't what bothered me. It was the mountain of junk piled up on the left hand bed. A mountain of guns and nuts and bolts, and even a half finished sword. Ironhide looked at it and gave me a sheepish look.  
>"Um. Yeah. Optimus is used to sleeping on his own." he thought for a moment. "Just put it all on his bed. He can worry about where to put it."<br>I nodded and he helped me move everything. He kept looking at me while we worked, like he was sizing me up.  
>"So what kind of weapon would you feel most comfortable with?" he asked me.<br>"I don't know." I admitted.  
>"I'll tell Optimus to take you up to my workshop when he's done training you tomorrow. I can test you on different weapons; see which one's will work for you. He'll be able to help you train with it after he's done with the Rules of Conduct."<br>I nodded. I was beginning to like Ironhide. It was easier to get on with somebody you had a lot in common with.  
>"Well, at least as his student you'll be safe." Ironhide was saying.<br>"What do you mean?"  
>Ironhide thought for a moment, as if deciding how best to say it.<br>"Optimus is well known for being a bit of a….ladies man. He doesn't really care about the people he hurts and, well, I saw the way you were looking at him. But I don't really have to warn him since, if you agree to this, you're his student. It's something else for you to think about. If you agree to this, you're forbidden from having any kind of relationship with Optimus or any student that you take on."  
>I nodded. I understood what he was getting at. It was the same for Rogues. I wasn't sure about Decepticons, who didn't seem capable of getting into relationships of any kind anyway.<br>We managed to shift Optimus' mountain of junk onto his bed, and Ironhide left. I didn't think I would be able to get to sleep at all that night, after everything that had happened to me that day, but I fell asleep almost immediately.


	5. E1 Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**  
>I was woken the next morning by the sound of heavy snoring. The next thing I noticed was a heavy weight around my waist, that certainly hadn't been there when I'd fallen asleep the night before. It took me a moment to realise that the source of both of these was Optimus. Whether consciously or unconsciously, he had his arm around my waist. I gently picked up his hand between my thumb and forefinger, and dropped his arm over his head. He stirred slightly, and went right on snoring. I awkwardly climbed out of the bed and got out of that tiny room.<br>"So you survived your first night, eh?"  
>I turned to face Sentinel uncertainly. There was still something about him that I didn't quite trust.<br>"Come with me. Optimus will hopefully give you the full tour when he eventually wakes up, but I'll show you to the training grounds." He led me outside. "So have you made your decision?"  
>"Yes."<br>"And? Are you going to become an Autobot?"  
>I looked at him.<br>"I'll do it."  
>He smiled a satisfied smile that I didn't trust, and led me right up to a barrier a little way outside the village.<br>"This is all we've got in ways of training grounds, I'm afraid." He told me as we looked out across the territory. "As I recall, Optimus was quite fond of doing all of his training by the small stream round the side of the village. I may be wrong, but I think he'll want to do your training with you there."  
>I nodded.<br>"Do you know what a Dreamer is, Clara?"  
>"Yes." I said stiffly, feeling my body tense. Did he know?<br>"Did your father tell you?" he asked, clearly surprised that I knew.  
>"No. One of the medics in my village."<br>He nodded. He looked like he wanted to say more, but Optimus chose that moment to make an appearance.  
>"You missed another drill last night, Optimus." Sentinel said, not looking round.<br>"I was dead to the world last night, Sentinel." Optimus replied, winking at me as he mimicked the way Sentinel had spoken. I smiled.  
>Sentinel rolled his eyes, not noticing, and looked at me.<br>"Most drills are at night, as I'm sure Ironhide would've told you, but you don't have to worry about them until you're settled in." he glanced at Optimus. "Word of advice, don't let _him_ drag you into any of his rule breaking schemes. Aside from that you should be fine." He wandered off, leaving me alone with Optimus, who joined me at the barrier.  
>"So you're staying?" he asked cheerfully.<br>"Yep."  
>He looked at me.<br>"Sorry about last night, if you took it the wrong way."  
>I gave him a questioning look. I honestly didn't have a clue what he was talking about.<br>"It's not you, I just don't want to teach….in general. I don't have a clue what I'm doing."  
>I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to make anything worse than it already was. I was starting to really like Optimus.<br>"I'm sorry about earlier." Someone said behind us.  
>"Right. I'm outta here. Come and find me when you're done." Optimus said immediately, disappearing.<br>I blinked and turned to Arcee.  
>"The way I was treating you….I was talking to Sideswipe about it last night….I just wanted you to know I'm sorry about it. It wasn't your fault."<br>"That's okay." I said quietly. "Don't worry about it."  
>She smiled.<br>"How many Autobots are there?" I asked her, since the village was as deserted now as it had been when I'd got there the night before.  
>"Not many. You, me, Optimus, Sentinel, Sideswipe, Ironhide, Ratchet and Roxy are the only ones based here. I've only seen one Autobot that isn't from this village, but there are probably more."<br>"Who's your teacher?" I asked her curiously.  
>"Ironhide." She replied. "Obviously, Sentinel is Optimus' teacher, and Ratchet teaches Sideswipe. Roxy doesn't have a teacher, since she's a leopard."<br>I nodded. I hadn't been sure what to think of Arcee at first, but I was starting to like her.  
>"Well, if you're Optimus' student now, we might be able to get him out of his constant moodiness." She suggested, "After all, you've got to live with him."<br>"Good point. Does he ever laugh?"  
>Arcee shook her head.<br>"Not that I've heard." She replied. "Speaking of which, you've gotta get going. He'll be waiting for you."

Arcee took me to Optimus, who was waiting about 5 minutes walk away from the village, exactly where Sentinel had said he would be. She left as soon as he came into sight, since the two didn't get on at the moment.  
>"We'll start with the Rules of Conduct." Optimus said when I got there. It was clear that he was almost as nervous as I was. "There are currently 15 Rules of Conduct, but Sentinel, or whoever the leader is at the time, is able to change them whenever he wants, so long as he has the support of most of the Autobots in the village. So, all you have to do is memorise them, and follow them to the best of your ability, and you'll be fine."<br>He told me the rules, and we worked on memorising the first 5, then Optimus took me back up to the village to find Ironhide. Sentinel found us and booted Optimus off on a mission, and Ratchet gave me directions. So I was alone when I entered Ironhide's workshop. Optimus must've told him I would be coming, because he had a table already piled with guns.  
>"Right!" he said happily, leading me over to the table, where Arcee was waiting. "I've got to find you a weapon of some kind, so we'll start with guns. Most people are gun people."<br>He picked up a random gun from the table and gave it to me, explaining how different people take to different kinds of weapon, unless you were someone like Optimus, who was good with all kinds of weapons.  
>"Most people, like myself and Arcee, take to guns." Ironhide was saying as we worked. "Being a medic, Ratchet isn't expected to fight as much, so he just uses whatever he has at his disposal at the time, but he is mostly a gun person. Sideswipe prefers axes and clubs. Nobody really takes to swords, unless you count Optimus."<br>After about two and a half hours, we'd gone through all of the guns on the table. None of them had felt right to me. They were all too long, or too heavy. Besides, I didn't feel comfortable using a gun, even if it was the right weight and length. Ironhide had said that the perfect weapon would feel like an extension of my arm, but none of them felt like that.  
>"You're not a gun person." Ironhide said happily as we cleared everything away.<br>Well, some weapons genius. I could figure that out by myself. I caught Arcee's eye and we both grinned. Still Ironhide seemed to like this job. He was thrilled at the prospect of a challenge.  
>It was getting dark when I finally left. By the time I got back to the room I shared with Optimus, he still wasn't back from his mission. But I was happy. For the first time since I was 7. For the first time, I felt like I was around people who wanted to be around me. I finally felt like I belonged.<br>If only I knew how short-lived that feeling would be.

The first thing I knew when I woke up in the morning was that Optimus was back. He was snoring, and his arm was back around my waist. I shoved him against the wall and sat up. I guess I would have to get used to that. He'd taped a note to the inside of the door. Ironhide wanted to see me. I pulled it off and left the room. I headed straight to Ironhide's workshop. I'd got up earlier today than I had yesterday. The sun hadn't risen yet and everyone seemed to still be asleep, but it was impossible to tell in this village. Ironhide was already up, adding another axe to the already precarious pile on the table.  
>"I thought we'd get an early start testing the weapons. We'll get more done that way."<br>I nodded and we got started.  
>Clearly I wasn't any more of an axe person than I was a gun person, and my arms were aching badly by the end of it. Those things were heavy!<br>"We'll get started on clubs when Optimus is finished with you for the day." Ironhide was saying. "Until then you can…."  
>He tailed off, staring out through the main door of the workshop.<br>Ironhide's workshop was right at the edge of the village, and it was positioned so the main door, which was the whole of one of the walls, looked out over the territory.  
>"Nobody's out on missions." Ironhide was muttering to himself, "Who's out there?"<br>There were four Cybertronians coming towards the village. Judging by the way they were supporting each other, they were injured. Ironhide beckoned to me, and we ran out to see what was going on.  
>I didn't recognise any of them, but they all had Autobot symbols and they were all injured.<br>"Jazz!" Ironhide exclaimed when we got close enough to see their faces. He looked at me. "Clara, go and get Ratchet! I'll see what I can do here."  
>I nodded and started running. I almost tripped over Roxy when I got back to the village.<br>"What's wrong?" she asked me, examining my face carefully. I hadn't seen her since that first night.  
>I explained quickly what was going on. She nodded.<br>"I'll go and find Ratchet. You go back to them and let them know we're coming."  
>I ran back the way I'd come. Ironhide was helping the small group up the hill towards the village. There was an urgency about them, like they were anxious to tell us something, but didn't think it was safe to tell us here.<br>At that moment Roxy arrived with Ratchet.  
>By the time we got back to the village Jazz was completely unconscious. Ratchet took the four into the building that had been designated as the hospital, and I waited outside for something to happen. Ironhide and Roxy went back to whatever work they had to do for the day. After a few minutes Sentinel and Optimus got there. Sentinel went inside to find out what was going on while Optimus waited with me. We were both anxious. It was clear that those Autobots had been attacked from something on the way there, and the whole village might be under threat. Optimus and I were both tense, expecting a fight at any minute. I didn't know what I was going to do if it did come to that, since I'd never been in a fight in my life, and I didn't even have a weapon. I would just get in the way. But some part of me wanted to prove myself to Optimus. That part was half hoping for a fight, and that scared me. After what seemed like hours Sentinel finally came out.<br>"There are a couple of Decepticons at the edge of the territory." He said to Optimus. "I don't know how they got permission to get on Rogue land, but either way. Take Clara and keep an eye on them for a while. It's a recon mission, if they come on Autobot land you have permission to fight them to keep them off, otherwise _they must not know that you're there_."


	6. E1 Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I don't have a clue what those Decepticons were doing. They were pacing along the border, not on Rogue or Autobot turf. It looked like they were just messing around rather than actually planning any kind of attack. After a while they started yelling into Autobot territory. They were yelling threats and insults, and generally the kind of things you would expect a kid to say for a joke. Or just being as inconsiderate as kids are these days. I didn't see them as much of a threat, but I wasn't sure what Optimus was thinking. His face was expressionless as he watched them, his head slightly tilted.  
>There were several questions I wanted to ask him, but we were quite close to where the Decepticons were. If I said anything, they would hear us. I didn't want to get in trouble for jeopardising my first mission. After what seemed like forever, the Decepticons clearly seemed satisfied that there weren't any Autobots nearby. They carefully stepped onto our side of the border, looking around to make sure there was definitely nobody around. I tensed, and Optimus put his hand on my shoulder, shaking his head slightly. Not yet. I watched the Decepticons coming further into Autobot territory. Optimus waited until they were a few metres away from us before nodding to me and silently getting to his feet. He helped me up and led me over to them, careful not to make a sound. I was terrified as we crept up on the group of Decepticons. There were about 8 of them, and by some miracle they hadn't noticed us yet. It was only a matter of time though. Optimus led me over to the forest, careful to keep us out of their line of vision. There were a few large branches lying around here. Optimus looked around, picked up a large one that was about the length of a sword and gave it to me. He gestured to me to wait where I was and headed round to the front of the group. I promised myself I would whack him with the stick as soon as this was over.<br>Optimus shot one, and had time to shoot three more before they realized they'd been discovered. By then Optimus had come back to where I was waiting. We both watched as the four remaining Decepticons converged on the large boulder Optimus had been hiding behind. He made me get to my knees so that they wouldn't see me and disappeared to go and throw them into even more disarray. This time they were ready for him though. They managed to get to him before he could shoot anyone, so he used his swords. Ironhide had told me that Optimus had always been more comfortable with swords than guns, even though he was good with both, and he looked it, but he was only able to kill all but one Decepticon before the last one stabbed him in the shoulder, driving him to his knees. They were quite close to me. I crawled as close to them as I could without being seen, watching them over a small ridge. Optimus was in trouble. I did the only thing that came naturally. I hit the Decepticon over the head with the stick. I must've hit him harder than I thought, because he didn't get up again.  
>"Nice work." Optimus commented, panting as he got to his feet, wincing as he pulled the sword out of his shoulder.<br>"Are you okay?" I asked him. I know, it was a stupid question to ask. He'd just been stabbed, how could he be okay? But I didn't know what else to say.  
>He smiled at me.<br>"I'll be all right. I've had worse." He dropped the sword and we headed back up to the village. "Jazz and the others probably have more reason than being chased by Decepticons to wind up here." He commented as we walked. "I think those Decepticons were trying to ambush him, and stop him getting here in the first place."  
>"Who is Jazz?"<br>"He's from another part of the territory." Optimus replied, "I've only seen him once before, when I was….a lot younger. He wasn't bearing very good news at the time. I guess I hated him because of what he had to tell me."  
>I looked at him curiously, but didn't say anything.<p>

When we reached the village, I was shocked. There were actually people about. True it was just Ironhide and Arcee, but still. It was progress in my eyes. Optimus said something to Ironhide quietly. He nodded and led me to his workshop.  
>"What's going on?" I asked him.<br>"Arcee is taking Optimus to Ratchet to get his shoulder sorted out. In the meantime Optimus wants me to see how you do with swords."  
>Ironhide had me sit down instead of help him get the swords out, since I was near collapsing from exhaustion at what had happened. True I hadn't actually done anything, but the expectation of something happening had drained me completely. Soon the table was piled with swords. Long swords, short swords, curved swords, straight swords. Loads of different kinds of swords. I actually felt confident this time. It was the first time Optimus had actually shown an interest in my weapons training, and I guess I'd been starting to feel a little dejected.<br>My confidence was in vain. I was as bad with the swords as I was with the guns and the axes, but Ironhide was acting like we were finally getting somewhere.  
>"You're definitely a sword person." He said slowly, his head tilted. "I can see that. But none of the swords here are right for you. I'll talk to Optimus about it and see what we can do."<br>I nodded slowly. So I was a sword person? That was….interesting. I'd never even touched a sword in my life. They were made and fixed by the blacksmith. Not me. I looked round as Optimus came in. I smiled. He was looking a lot better. There wasn't any sign that he'd been stabbed at all.  
>"Sentinel wants to see both of you." he said grimly. I tilted my head, wondering what was going on, and we followed him back to the main building. Sentinel was waiting for us in the first room I'd been in. Arcee was already there, as well as Jazz and one of the Autobots who had come with him, and Roxy.<br>Sentinel looked around at us all, and nodded to Jazz, who stepped forward.  
>"The Decepticons wanted to stop us getting here, because we have some information that could determine the outcome of the war." He said quietly. "Some Autobots from my village were mining for Transozite, and we found some….crystals. I was there when we first uncovered them." he held something out to the rest of us. It was a crystal, about a metre long, a muddy greenish brown sort of colour.<br>"Don't touch it." He warned. "When I picked it up Mudflap tried, and he got blasted and almost brought the roof down on top of us. They seem to….bond to the DNA of the Cybertronian that picks them up, and anyone else who tries to touch it is automatically blasted. We decided not to touch any of the others, and managed to get them onto an Autobot ship without doing so, but the ship was shot down and crashed on a previously unknown planet. The rest of these crystals are all somewhere on that planet, and we don't even think we got all of them out of the ground."  
>"Hold up." Arcee interrupted, "You're making it sound like we're gonna have to go and get these crystals back."<br>Jazz nodded.  
>"Why?" she asked, "Why are they so important to get back?"<br>"Good question." Jazz replied, "Each crystal has command over one of the 5 elements, which it will grant to his possessor. The Decepticons know that they exist, but if they get their hands on them before us they can easily win this war. But if we get them first, we can defeat them for good."  
>He stepped back and Sentinel stood up.<br>"It's decided. All of you will accompany Jazz and Bumblebee here to this planet, and help them get those crystals back."  
>"What's this planet?" Roxy asked.<br>"Earth." Jazz replied. "We don't know much about it, but it's full of life and it's a very long way away."  
>"We don't have a ship to get us 'a very long way away'." Optimus grumbled.<br>I pulled a face and looked at the floor.  
>"I can take care of that." I said quietly, almost hoping nobody would be able to hear me. Of course they did. Sentinel nodded.<br>"Very well. Take Arcee with you and do what you need to do to get a ship. The rest of you need to prepare yourselves as well. Go now."  
>We left the room. I led Arcee out of the building, towards the edge of Autobot territory.<br>"Where are we going?" Arcee asked as we walked.  
>"Rogue turf." I replied. "There's someone there that can help us out."<br>"Can't you just radio him?"  
>"No. He doesn't like that."<p>

We carried on walking, and it was dark by the time we reached my old hometown. I led Arcee to the grand building at the centre of the village and we headed inside. Kaitlynn was just walking past the door when we walked in.  
>"Oh. It's you again." She walked off.<br>"Again?" Arcee asked me quietly.  
>"Optimus and I stopped off here on the way to Autobot turf." I replied.<br>She nodded and we headed into the main room.  
>"Clara!" my father cried as soon as he saw me. He hugged me. "Is something wrong?"<br>"No." I replied. "But….I didn't want to ask you for such a huge favour, but we need a ship."  
>He nodded.<br>"Of course. What kind of ship?"  
>"A large, deeper space fighter ship." I told him, "Big enough to take at least seven Cybertronians."<br>He nodded again.  
>"I'll see what I can do. When do you need it?"<br>"As soon as possible."  
>"Right. You'll have it at once." He left the room.<br>Arcee was wandering around the outside of the room, looking at the photos on the walls. I sat down on one of the sofas and stared at the floor. After a minute Arcee came and sat next to me.  
>"Who is it in this photo?"<br>I looked at the one she was showing me. It had been one of my favourites.  
>"It's me, when I was 7. That's Luke. He's my older brother. He was 14. And my older sister, Tessa. She was 12."<br>Arcee tilted her head as she looked at the photo.  
>"You look a lot happier than you do today."<br>I nodded.  
>"Times change."<br>"Where are Luke and Tessa now?"  
>I winced, but Arcee didn't notice.<br>"Dead."  
>She looked at me.<br>"I'm sorry."  
>"Don't be. It's not your fault."<br>At that moment my dad came in.  
>"Got you one. It's a beauty, you'll be able to do a lot with it."<br>I stood up and turned to Arcee.  
>"Do you know how to drive a ship?"<p> 


	7. Episode 2 Chapter 1

**(Episode 2)  
><strong>

**Chapter 6  
><strong>

We did get back to base in one piece. Barely. I learned my lesson: never let Arcee drive. We almost died several times, and we did in fact crash into one of the unoccupied buildings at the edge of the village. I'd never been so happy to have my feet on the ground in my life. Thankfully Arcee hadn't harmed the ship too badly. Just a couple of scratches, since the shields had been up (by accident) when we crashed, and neither of us were hurt. True, my dad had been a little bit upset when Arcee had accidentally set a building on fire when she tried to take off, but that could be easily fixed. We tried to go straight to the main building, but were accosted by an angry Ratchet who had wanted to use the building as an extension to the hospital. By then everybody else had got there. Ironhide stared at the ship open mouthed.  
>"Arcee, you can't drive." He said.<br>"Why do you think we crashed?" I grumbled, giving Optimus a hug. He was surprised, but he didn't shove me away or anything, which I took as a good sign.  
>"What's it got?" Roxy asked, coming over and looking at the ship.<br>Of course Arcee and I had looked around the ship. We had to before it got destroyed by Arcee's so called 'driving'.  
>"The bottom floor is all the main control room," Arcee replied, "and an area for the navigation room. Second floor has enough rooms for everyone, and all of them are huge. The top floor has a full proper teleport, and underneath the control room is the engine room."<br>Everyone stared at her.  
>"There's more than one floor?" Jazz asked uncomprehendingly. "How'd you get that?"<br>"My dad decided we needed a luxury fighter." I said embarrassedly, shaking my head in despair.  
>"When are we leaving?" Ironhide asked excitedly. It seemed that he would quite happily go on such a dangerous mission so long as he got to go on the ship.<br>"Who's driving?" I asked after a moment of silence. There was no way I was gonna go through even three seconds more of Arcee's 'driving'.  
>"Normally Ratchet." Optimus replied, "But he's not coming."<br>"I can drive." Jazz volunteered.  
>Everyone was looking at Optimus expectantly. He shifted uncomfortably.<br>"What?" he asked finally.  
>"You're first lieutenant." Ironhide replied, "You're leader."<br>Optimus stared at him.  
>"We haven't left yet. Sentinel's leader until then."<br>Sentinel was watching the goings-on with an amused expression on his face from where he was sitting on a chunk of rubble from the old building.  
>"You'll leave as soon as everybody is ready to do so." He said, standing up and coming forward. "I take it everybody is prepared?"<br>We all nodded. True, Arcee and I hadn't actually been there to prepare, but I didn't have any way to prepare myself. I didn't own anything.  
>We were told to recharge for the night, and leave in the morning. Optimus went off to talk to Sentinel about something, and it took me about ten minutes to start recharging. Next thing I knew I was bolt upright in the bed, panting. It was late, but Optimus wasn't back yet. I didn't know how long it had been since I'd started recharging. I lay down and sobbed for a minute. It hadn't happened in so long, I'd thought it was finally over.<br>I was still awake when Optimus came in, terrified of trying to recharge again. I felt him lay down behind me, and twisted round so I could snuggle up to him, surprising both of us.  
>"What's got into you?" he asked quietly.<br>"Nothing."  
>"You're not normally this affectionate."<br>I rested my head on his chest and didn't say anything. I felt his head tilt, and then he rested his cheek against the top of my head and ran his hand through my hair, wrapping his other arm around me tightly. It was comforting, having him there, and I started to feel better.

I was woken by a sharp grating sound, like nails on a chalk board. I sat bolt upright in bed, which woke Optimus up with a start.  
>"What <em>is<em> that?"  
>Optimus sat up, yawning, and listened for a moment.<br>"Relax, Clara." He put his arm round my shoulders, pulling me against his chest. "It's just Sideswipe."  
>I almost died of relief. I snuggled back up to Optimus, putting my arms around him. We were both wide awake now, but we stayed like that for a few minutes before we got out of that room. Nearly everyone was waiting for us by the ship. We were just waiting on Arcee, who had gone to say goodbye to Sideswipe. Eventually she got back and we all got on. Bumblebee, the Autobot who'd come with Jazz, made a whining sound as he looked around the control room. He'd damaged his throat in his battle with the Decepticons on the way to the village, and lost his voice as a result of that. He went through to the navigation room while Jazz got the Main Control Panel up and running. He started pressing things on the touch screen that appeared as Bumblebee came back out. He gave Jazz some co-ordinates by holding up his fingers for each digit, and I felt the ship take off. If Jazz's driving was anything like Arcee's, they could just drop me off on the nearest planet. I should mention. I'm not good with flying, and my little experience with Arcee had done nothing to ease my discomfort. Jazz was gentle though. I hadn't spoken to him or Bumblebee at all yet, so I knew nothing about either of them. Optimus had disappeared from where he'd been standing at my side for the last few minutes. He'd gone over to talk to Ironhide. Arcee came over to me.<br>"What's going on between you and Optimus?" she asked curiously.  
>"What do you mean?"<br>"Well, you seem to be….depending on him….more and more recently. You keep looking for him. Like just now, when he went to talk to Ironhide. It's like you don't know what to do when he's not with you."  
>"I don't." I admitted. "I don't have a clue what I'm doing."<br>Arcee glanced at Optimus.  
>"Well, be careful with him." She warned me. "Nobody will tell me exactly what's going on, but I've heard he's had a pretty rough past."<br>"That makes two of us."  
>"What happened to you? After they died."<br>I lowered my head.  
>"I don't know." I said quietly. "I don't really want to talk about it."<br>"Sorry." Arcee wandered off to talk to Jazz, just as Optimus came over.  
>"How are you doing?" he asked me, laying a hand on my shoulder.<br>"I'm all right." I replied. "I don't like flying though."  
>Optimus smiled.<br>"Don't worry. You'll be fine."  
>We looked up as Roxy got into a play fight with Ironhide. She was always getting into real fights with Ratchet, but since he wasn't here she was starting on Ironhide.<br>"What do we do when we get there?" I asked Optimus.  
>"Well….we have to make sure the ship's safe before we do anything else, and then I guess we just….look?"<br>I stared at him.  
>"You don't have a clue what we should do, do you?"<br>"Nope."

It took about thirty minutes for us to be lounging around the control room, bored. Bumblebee had found a wormhole that could get us to Earth within a couple of hours of reaching it, rather than the weeks it would take getting there normally, but that in itself was about a day's journey away.  
>"I have a really bad feeling about this mission." I muttered. I was sitting next to Optimus, at the foot of the Main Control Panel.<br>"Keep thinking like that and you'll be taken for a Dreamer." Jazz called from across the room. I stiffened slightly and glared at him.  
>"What's a Dreamer?" Arcee asked, frowning.<br>"None of you guys know what a Dreamer is?" Jazz asked, clearly shocked.  
>He looked around the room, but nobody said anything. Sure, I knew, but that didn't mean I had to tell anyone.<br>"Spill it, Jazz." Roxy yawned.  
>"Fine. A Dreamer is someone with….well, it's kind of like a sixth sense. Each one has the ability to see something different, and they have visions while they're recharging, which is obviously why they're called Dreamers. I've never actually met one. They're supposed to be really rare, like, one or two for every generation. I've heard a rumour that the Decepticons have one. A woman who sees snatches of key events in the future, then afterwards she can only remember one or two things about it. If someone figures out what those one or two things mean, they can easily have the power to control that event. But most Dreamers see things how they're going to be, and there's no way of changing them even if you know it's going to happen."<br>"Sometimes trying to stop it is what causes it to happen in the first place." I provided quietly. Jazz nodded.  
>"So you actually knew what a Dreamer is?" Ironhide asked me. I nodded. "Have you ever met one?"<br>I shrugged.  
>"Sort of."<br>They stared at me.  
>"How can you 'sort of' meet someone?" Jazz demanded.<br>"Actually you can do it all the time." Roxy spoke up. "Bumping into someone on the street, being introduced to someone but not really paying attention to anything. I've 'sort of' met a lot of people."  
>Optimus was smiling slightly. He pulled me closer to him.<p> 


	8. E2 Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

We did, eventually, get through the wormhole. It was late the next day when we finally reached Earth, and things finally started to get interesting. I was glad that the planet's gravitational pull gave everything something to do, since none of us wanted to crash and burn. A couple of the other Autobots had been giving me funny looks, like they were trying to figure out if I could be a Dreamer or not. We were doing pretty well with keeping the ship steady, but then Ironhide slipped and kicked Roxy by accident, and all hell broke loose. They started fighting, dropping their duties to do so. They ended up slamming into Arcee, so she couldn't do anything. Optimus had to drop what he was doing to try and break them up before they killed everyone, and gravity managed to catch hold of us, increasing our speed as it flung us towards the Earth thousands of miles below. Jazz, Bumblebee and I tried to get the ship into reverse to get us out of it, or at least slow us down, but with so much pressure on it, the engine cut out completely.  
>There was a moment of silence.<br>"That can't be good." Jazz said slowly, looking at me with wide eyes.  
>"What can't be good?" Optimus asked, appearing back at my side.<br>"We just lost the engines." I answered.  
>That was enough to stop the others in their tracks. They had about three seconds to let that piece of information sink in, then we were all thrown to the floor, hard, as the ship plummeted to the Earth far below.<p>

"Ow." I cringed as I got to my feet. "Let's not do that again."  
>"What kind of state is the engine in?" Optimus asked, not even bothering to move from where he'd fallen.<br>I went to see.  
>I opened the door to the engine room, and slammed it shut immediately as a huge amount of steam billowed out, and temperatures started rising.<br>"Not good."  
>Optimus groaned and got to his feet.<br>"Is anyone hurt?" he asked  
>"Yes!" everyone complained.<br>"Is anyone fatally wounded?" Optimus rephrased  
>There was a lot of grumbling, but nobody spoke up. Jazz went over and opened the main door.<br>"What's it like out there?" Arcee asked him.  
>"Cold. Dark. Wet." Jazz replied.<br>"Remind you of anywhere?" I asked innocently.  
>"Hey!" Ironhide protested. "Autobot turf isn't that bad!"<br>"I was actually talking about Decepticon territory, but interpret it how you want." I replied, laughing.  
>Ironhide shuddered.<br>"You've turned into an Optimus Prime clone….except you're female….and you laugh."  
>Optimus rolled his eyes.<br>"All right you two." He joined Jazz at the door. "We should start searching for those crystals."

Jazz was right about where we'd crashed. It was cold. It was dark. It was wet. I found it quite it quite depressing. I got depressed a lot anyway, but still….  
>We headed down the way that the ship seemed to have come.<br>It was dark, and we could hardly even see where we were going. I stuck close to Optimus, my eyes flickering from wall to wall, expecting a Decepticon to jump out from round every corner. Wait a minute. Corner? The ship had crashed, how did it have time to randomly change what direction it was going in?  
>"What's with all the twists and turns?" I asked finally, because I couldn't stand the silence anymore.<br>"We might not be following the path that the ship took." Optimus replied, but he sounded doubtful.  
>After a while, we heard voices up ahead. Optimus held his arm out, stopping us.<br>There were two Decepticons up ahead, arguing about something. I flinched as I recognised Starscream's voice. Unfortunately Optimus hadn't killed him the night I met him. On the bright side, Starscream was getting chewed up.  
>I would've been happy to just listen to Starscream getting it, but at that moment a beeping sound started suddenly around my waist. The Decepticons' voices faltered.<br>"Shit." I hissed, grabbing the small device from my waist.  
>"What is that?" Optimus whispered.<br>"Relax," I hissed back, finally shutting off the device, "It just means the ship's being broken into."  
>"It might be a threat." Ironhide said quietly.<br>"Clara, go and check it out." Optimus whispered to me, "We'll hold up here."  
>I nodded and hurried back the way we'd come. I heard the ship before I saw it. All the alarms were blaring. The door was wide open, but I knew for a fact that we'd locked it behind us. Some top class security systems.<br>I went inside. I didn't even have to sneak, since the alarms were so loud. I could hear voices from the control room, yelling to make themselves heard over the alarms. They weren't Decepticon voices. They were sparklings' voices, scared and trying to remember the way out. I went in and shut off the alarms. They had their backs to me, so none of them had noticed me yet.  
>"What just happened?" one of them was asking.<br>"I don't know." The other answered, "I think we came in this way."  
>She was heading straight for the door to the engine room.<br>"I don't think we did…." The third said slowly.  
>The girl opened the door anyway.<br>All three of them would've been burned to a crisp by the flames that came tearing out if I hadn't shoved my shield down between the three of them and the door.  
>"Didn't your parents ever teach you not to go in other peoples' houses without permission?" I asked them as I shut the engine room door.<br>"They told us not to go in strangers houses." One of them corrected.  
>"Well, I come from a small village. Everyone knew each other, so there were no strangers there."<br>"What about strangers passing through?" the girl asked  
>"They didn't have houses." I pulled my shield out of the ground and strapped it to my back, the three sparklings watching my every move. "What are you doing here?"<br>"We come here a lot." The other girl replied, "But your spaceship has never been here before."  
>I sighed.<br>"Who are you?"  
>"I'm Gracee." she said nervously.<br>"I'm Andi!" the first girl said happily, "and this is my twin brother, Alex."  
>"All right. Gracee, Andi and Alex. Get out of here."<br>Andi stared at me in horror.  
>"Why? We were here first!"<br>"I didn't say you had to get out of whatever these caves are, just out of the ship."  
>"Why?"<br>"Well, unless you want to get thrown into space…." I tailed off, trying to sound threatening.  
>"You can't do that." Alex said quietly. He seemed smarter than his twin. "Your whole engine room is on fire, this ship isn't going anywhere until you get that sorted out, for a start."<br>I glared at him.  
>"Yeah, sure. This is just great. I get sent back here to deal with a Decepticon breaking into the ship, which would be bad enough, and I get stuck with a couple of stupid sparklings."<br>I went over to the Main Control Panel and something pale caught my eye. Gracee was holding a clear object about half a metre long.  
>"Where did you get that?" I asked her quietly.<br>"I found it outside." She replied, looking at it. "Why?"  
>"Don't let anyone else touch it." I told her.<br>"Why not?"  
>At that moment Arcee came running in.<br>"Optimus wants to know what's taking you so long." She relayed.  
>"Tell him it's none of his business."<br>"You tell him! He'd kill me if I told him that!"  
>"Is there a problem up there?"<br>"No. He was just wondering, since you've been gone a while now. Is something wrong?"  
>I tilted my head to the three sparklings. She looked.<br>"I take it they're not threats."  
>"No. I just can't get rid of them."<br>"If you hurt them, Optimus will kill you. If they're here when the others get back, Optimus will kill you. If Optimus even knows they've been here, Optimus will kill you. And then he'd kill them. That's some problem you've got."  
>"I take it Optimus is in a bad mood then."<br>"Yeah. Besides, he doesn't exactly like natives on the ship. He finds them annoying."  
>"Well, it's your problem too, since you know they're here."<br>"Good point."  
>"What's a good point?" Roxy asked as she came in.<br>I shifted nervously as the other Autobots followed.  
>"Nothing." Arcee said, way too innocently, shifting herself so she was hiding the sparklings.<br>Optimus tilted his head.  
>"Arcee, what's going on?" he asked her.<br>Arcee didn't say anything. Optimus sighed and turned to me.  
>"Clara?"<br>I looked at him, and I somehow knew I wouldn't be able to lie to him.  
>"It's just a couple of sparklings, Optimus." I said quietly, looking down at the floor.<br>Arcee glanced at me, and then moved away from the sparklings guiltily. After hearing Arcee's speech about Optimus, I don't think they were really interested in meeting him. Alex and Gracee were shivering a little, not daring to look up at the Autobots. Andi looked fine though, she was staring at them open-mouthed. Optimus frowned and came over to me.  
>"Well this should be fun." He said dryly, his head tilted as he surveyed the sparklings. "I just know it."<p> 


	9. E2 Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Of course we all had to introduce ourselves to the sparklings, find out exactly who they were, and get into a full discussion with them about what we were doing here, and the difference between Autobots and Decepticons. The only highlight was when Gracee dropped her water crystal on Ironhide's head, blasting him back into the Main Control Panel. That was pretty funny, but then the MCP blew up completely, almost killing all of us. Rogues came up once in the conversation, and Jazz, who seemed to have taken an instant dislike to me (the feeling was mutual), saw fit to insult me and the entire race of Rogues. I did the natural thing and tried to murder him. Optimus had to hold me back.  
>"Clara, leave him be."<br>I went limp in his arms. Part of him sounded angry, part of him disappointed, part of him exasperated, and I didn't like the feeling that I'd let him down somehow. He let go of me, and I couldn't even bring myself to go after Jazz to try and cheer myself up. I stood where I was while Optimus finally managed to get rid of the sparklings, and the other Autobots went off to do their own thing. It was late, so that was probably sleeping. Finally Optimus and I were the only ones left. He wasn't looking at me, doing something at one of the other control panels.  
>"I'm sorry." I said quietly.<br>Optimus looked at me, tilting his head. He seemed to realise what had happened and pulled me into his arms. I clung to him tightly, resting my head on his chest.  
>"Clara…." He said quietly, "I'm sorry." He rubbed my arm comfortingly and rested his forehead on my head. "I didn't mean to hurt you."<br>I held him a little tighter, but didn't say anything. I felt him tilt his head slightly.  
>"I actually would've done the exact same thing. That I'm holding you back makes me feel like I'm turning into Sentinel." He commented. "Whoa. Not a good sign."<br>It worked. I started laughing. My laughter was short-lived, but he'd cheered me up a lot. I was scared though. Scared because my spark ached whenever I thought about him, when I wasn't with him. Scared because it leapt in joy whenever he was near. Scared because of the pain I got whenever I was alone with him like this, that seemed to be increasing as time went on. I guess it was safe to say I was scared of _him._ Well, not him exactly. I was scared of the effect that he was having on me. I'd never felt anything like it before.  
>I closed my eyes and allowed myself to go limp in his arms. He was running his hand through my hair comfortingly. I felt more comfortable here with him than I had in a long time, even with the pain. There was nowhere else I wanted to be.<br>After a few minutes Optimus pulled away.  
>"We should make sure the ship's safe if we don't want to be murdered while we're recharging." He said cheerfully as he went back to the control panel he'd been at.<br>"How can you say something like that so cheerfully?" I demanded playfully, coming up behind him to see what he was doing. Optimus rolled his eyes and pushed a few buttons.  
>"Do you mind helping me with the security cameras?" he asked, grabbing an armful of them and heading towards the door.<br>"Sure."

We'd finally found the exit to the caves. I worked my way up the tunnel towards it, putting camouflage cameras up on both walls as I went. Optimus was trying to reboot the ship's camouflage systems, which, along with the cameras, was controlled by the security panel rather than the MCP. After a while I got to the exit. I stuck a camera on the wall next to it and barely watched as it disappeared, blending into its surroundings. I was looking at the sky.  
>"It's not so different here as to Cybertron." Optimus commented, coming up beside me.<br>"The stars are further away. And the constellations are different." I pointed out.  
>"And the sun's closer."<br>"And there's only one moon, which is further away."  
>"You miss home?" Optimus asked me, wrapping his arms around my waist.<br>"A little." I admitted. I don't know why, but it was the truth. Like I said, I don't really form attachments to places – or people – so I didn't usually care where I was or who I was with. I found myself homesick though. We didn't belong here.  
>"I miss it too." He muttered soothingly. "Don't worry though. We'll be home soon."<br>I nodded and pulled away so I could put another camera on the opposite wall.  
>"They're just kids, Optimus."<br>"Hn?"  
>"This isn't their war. They have every right to run away. Are you sure it's a good idea to have them here?"<br>"If the Decepticons find out they have a crystal, they'll be in danger. It's best to keep them close where we can make sure that doesn't happen. We can protect them that way." He smiled at me comfortingly. "Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."  
>I blinked at him.<br>"That's not what you were saying on the ship yesterday morning."  
>He gave me an annoyed look.<br>"You know, as soon as you've finished your training, your safety is no longer my responsibility, so I can quite happily murder you and not get in trouble for it." He said jokingly.  
>I laughed as he led me back to the ship.<br>There was only a tiny little problem when we got back,  
>"Where the hell is it?" I demanded.<br>"Er….I think it's in this room."  
>"Optimus Prime, I spent 20 years building that ship, if you've lost it…."<br>Optimus gave me a sheepish look.  
>"It was your idea to use the camouflage."<br>"Yeah, but not so we didn't even know where it was!"  
>After a few minutes Roxy opened the door for us, almost crushing us beneath it in the process.<br>"Sorry!" she called to us as we came back on board.  
>I was tired, so I headed straight upstairs to recharge.<br>The next morning the kids decided to get to the ship at 12. Jazz, Bumblebee and I were the only ones on the ship. I was putting up some speakers as an alarm system, since we'd decided to set the ships drones to looking for the crystals.  
>"Where is everyone?" Andi asked, running over to me.<br>"Ironhide and Arcee are outside, Optimus and the others are making sure they've covered all the exits to the caves." I replied tiredly. I hadn't been able to recharge much at all last night, and it was showing. "Don't you sparklings have school or something?"  
>"We had a half day today, since it's the last day before the holidays." Andi said, shrugging.<br>Gracee was giving me an irritated look.  
>"Why do you keep calling us that?" she demanded.<br>"Calling you what?" I asked, not really paying attention.  
>"'Sparklings'."<br>"No, I guess you wouldn't understand that." I muttered to myself. "It's the Cybertron term for….kids."  
>"You're calling us kids?" Andi asked, shocked.<br>"Yep."  
>"We're not kids!"<br>"How old are you?"  
>"14."<br>I snorted.  
>"If you're not sparklings, then your planet must have a really low life expectancy rate."<br>"Actually, it's quite high."  
>"How old?"<br>"About 80 in this country." Alex replied.  
>"That's low."<br>"How long do you live on your planet then?" Andi demanded.  
>"Don't have a clue, since no one's really lived long enough to die of old age. It's high though."<br>Andi blinked.  
>"Really?"<br>"Yep."  
>I half-glanced at Jazz, not daring to actually look at him. I'd already pounded his head against the wall since Optimus had left, just for last night, and I was sure I would find another reason to cause him even more damage if I looked at him, but I didn't want to have Optimus mad at me again.<br>"What can we do?" Andi asked, bored.  
>"You can help with the work if you want." I suggested.<br>"Work? No way!"  
>"I thought not. Optimus said you can look around if you wanted to."<br>"We can look around the ship?"  
>"Not upstairs. And unless you have a wish to die excruciatingly painfully by burning to death, then sure, go into the engine room."<br>"Why only this floor? What's upstairs that you don't want us to see?"  
>"Our bedrooms. We don't want you looking through all our personal-"<br>"Just ignore Clara. She's homesick." Jazz called from across the room. "Look around if you want, but stick to this floor."  
>I glared at him as the sparklings left, and he pulled a taunting face at me. I made a mental note to ask Optimus for permission to murder the tiny Autobot when my teacher got back in from the caves.<br>I crossed to the corner furthest away from Jazz to put up the final speaker, watching the sparklings out of the corner of my eye as they went over to Bumblebee. Well, that was some real great exploring. Bumblebee was a real find. I rolled my eyes and went back to work.

"I'm _BORED." _Andi moaned after a few minutes as the three came back to me.  
>"Go and explore then."<br>"We have."  
>"I'm not stupid. I saw you talking to Bumblebee."<br>"You saw that? But that's impossible!"  
>"I'm almost nine million years old, it's entirely possible."<br>"So is there anything else we can do? All that's on this floor is this room, and we can't go anywhere else."  
>"Why'd you come to me?"<br>"Bumblebee told us to." Andi replied before either of the others could stop her.  
>"Did Bumblebee tell you why he was so eager to get you to talk to me? Or is he just trying to shrug you off on somebody else." I frowned. "How'd he even tell you anyway?"<br>"Through the radio."  
>"He said you might need cheering up." Gracee cut in uncertainly.<br>"Why?"  
>"Because you're a Rogue." Andi answered cheerfully. "So you're not as used to living away from home as the Autobots are."<br>"I don't have a home." I replied, not looking at the three sparklings. "I haven't had a home since I was 7."  
>The three of them were looking at me curiously.<br>"What actually is a Rogue?" Alex asked eventually.  
>"Someone who refuses to fall in behind the Autobots or Decepticons, or even fight at all in this war. Most people are Rogues because they got sick of the war. I was born into it. I'm directly descended from the first Rogues, so I don't really have a choice."<br>"But you chose to be an Autobot." Gracee said, confused.  
>"Only because my dad got sick of me hating 'home'. He stuck me in Decepticon territory in the hope that I'd start enjoy being at home, and it didn't work. So now he's stuck me on the other end of the line. Only this time I actually became an Autobot."<br>"Er, we passed Ironhide and Arcee on our way in, and they were fighting. Are you gonna sort that out before they kill each other?" Andi asked.  
>"No."<br>"Why not?"  
>"They're training. They're not gonna hurt each other."<br>"Why are they training?"  
>"Because Arcee's not a proper Autobot yet. She needs to train, and Ironhide's her teacher, so he has to train her."<br>"What do you mean, she's not a proper Autobot?"  
>"You don't become a proper Autobot until you finish your training and are allowed to wear the Autobot symbol."<br>"You don't wear an Autobot symbol." Alex noted.  
>"Training lasts a year at least; I've been doing mine for almost a week."<br>"Who's your teacher?" Gracee asked curiously.  
>"Optimus."<br>"But he's leader." Andi replied.  
>"So?" I looked at her. "Actually he's only leader for this mission. He's the first lieutenant."<br>"So who's your real leader?"  
>"Sentinel Prime."<br>"Who?"  
>"Optimus' teacher."<br>"So if Sentinel is leader, and Optimus, his student, is first lieutenant," Andi was saying, "Since you're Optimus' student, doesn't that make you his first lieutenant?"  
>"No. Only if he makes me first lieutenant. It's his choice; the title isn't given to someone automatically."<br>I was hounded for at least ten minutes more, though it felt like ten years more, before I was finally able to shrug the sparklings off on Jazz, who gave me his 'I'll kill you later' look – a look that he seemed to have made up and reserved especially for me.


	10. E2 Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Jazz didn't kill me later. Oh, I know he would've loved to. He would've, but he didn't get the chance. Optimus came back a few minutes after the sparklings went over to Jazz, and he didn't dare do anything to me with the older Autobot around.  
>I spent most of the day upstairs in my room, sitting on my bed, hugging my knees, trying to make sense of the jumble of thoughts in my head.<br>That was where Ironhide found me the next morning.  
>"Optimus wanted me to give this to you." he said as I shut the door behind him.<br>He was holding out a pair of sheaths. He pulled the sword out of one and handed it to me. It felt right in my hand.  
>"Yeah, that works." Ironhide was saying. "Optimus' dad was a blacksmith, so he's good with swords."<br>"Thanks." I said gratefully as he handed the sheaths to me. I sat down on the bed and put the sword back in the sheath.  
>Ironhide hesitated.<br>"Optimus is worried about you." he told me, sitting down on the bed next to me. "I mean, he's never actually said so, and he's way too proud to actually admit something like that, but it's obvious."  
>"Why would he be worried about me?"<br>"Well, you haven't come out of your room since yesterday morning. The sparklings were worrying it was something they'd done to drive you up here."  
>"Don't worry about it Ironhide. I just haven't been able to recharge much recently. I'm tired, that's all."<br>Ironhide looked at me.  
>"Well Optimus clearly thinks you're acting strange." He shrugged. "I don't know. He knows you better than the rest of us do."<br>I smiled a tired smile.  
>"Or maybe he just thinks he does."<br>Ironhide smiled.  
>"Well, I'd better be off."<br>I waited until he'd reached the door.  
>"Hey, Ironhide?" he turned. "Tell Optimus that if he wants to talk to me, he can just come and do it himself rather than hiding behind messengers."<br>"While I don't deny that Optimus did send me to check on you," Ironhide grinned, "I'll just take this opportunity to say: If I disappear rather suddenly tomorrow, without a trace. Optimus did it and it's your fault."  
>I laughed.<br>"Don't worry about that. I'd stop him if he tried."

A couple of minutes after Ironhide left I finally decided to go downstairs and let the other Autobots know that no, I hadn't died.  
>I think Jazz was disappointed.<br>He certainly looked disappointed.  
>Optimus just looked glum, but he cheered up a little when I came in. Maybe it was just for my sake, but either way…<br>I sat down next to him as Jazz left, and he pulled me into his arms.  
>"Are you okay?" he asked me. The room was empty except for the two of us.<br>"Yeah." I replied. "Just tired."  
>My teacher held me tightly against his chest, stroking my hair gently, his chin resting on the top of my head. I just lay there, my eyes blurred from lack of recharge.<br>Finally I fell asleep.

When I woke up, Optimus was gone. I was lying down where the two of us had been sitting. Roxy was standing over me, sniffing at my face like a dog, which was probably what had woken me up in the first place.  
>"What do you want Roxy?" I asked grouchily, sitting up.<br>Okay, maybe I shouldn't have been mad at her, but I really hate it when people wake me up like that.  
>"Optimus said he wants to see you when you wake up." The scout replied, going over to taunt Ironhide. Which was a bad idea since Ironhide had the sparklings.<br>I left.

Optimus was waiting for me a little way into the caves.  
>"Are you all right?" I asked him as I approached.<br>He nodded and hugged me tightly, smiling.  
>"Don't worry." He said reassuringly, "Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to see you."<br>"Why?" I asked him curiously.  
>"Well, you've been acting strange recently, and….I'm worried about you." he admitted.<br>I held him a little tighter. It was nice to know that he cared about me enough that he was worried about me.  
>Optimus sighed and pulled away from me.<br>"There's something I need to tell you." he said, sitting down and pulling me down next to him.  
>"What is it?" I asked, slightly worried. I didn't even resist as he made me sit down next to him.<br>"Clara, if I tell you this….do you promise not to repeat it to anybody else, unless I ask you to?"  
>I tilted my head.<br>"I promise."


	11. Episode 3 Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The alarms started about two seconds after we got back onto the ship.  
>"Well, at least we know they work." I commented, turning them off.<br>Ironhide smiled from where he was tapping a few buttons on the drone panel, and Jazz looked at me like I was mad.  
>"The drones have found one." Ironhide called suddenly.<br>"Jazz, go get the co-ordinates. Send Roxy up when you've got them." Optimus ordered, "Ironhide, when Roxy leaves, get the drone to keep searching. Clara, come and help me with the teleport."  
>I got the feeling Optimus was trying to separate me from the others, as he led me up to the top floor, where the teleport was waiting. Then again, it might just be because I built that teleport. We managed to get it up and running, and I left Optimus keeping it that way while I searched for the remote. I eventually found it, and Roxy came in with the co-ordinates.<p>

Eventually we were all at the co-ordinates Jazz had given to us. The humans were on Optimus' shoulder, even though I still thought they would be safer at home. I shut down the teleport and hooked the remote to my tool belt.  
>"There's no way we're gonna get through that mess transformed." Arcee commented, looking around. Bumblebee whined in agreement.<br>We were in a large forest, much to my distaste. The trees were taller than Optimus, and they were pushing in on us from every direction. I found myself automatically raising my battle mask.  
>"Which way?" Optimus asked Jazz.<br>Jazz was holding a small device in his hand. He spun in a slow circle, looking at it, then stopped and pointed in what seemed to be a completely random direction.  
>"That way."<br>I gave Optimus an uncertain look. He nodded encouragingly and we followed Jazz. I held one of the swords at my side warily, glad of the weight of the teleport remote at my belt.  
>"What happens if Jazz is wrong?" I asked Optimus quietly, sticking close to him.<br>Optimus glanced at me, a strange twinkle in his eye.  
>"The Decepticons will probably get the crystal before us." He replied, "We lose time sorting out the ship. That's all."<br>"Doesn't stop the Decepticons blasting us to bits." I muttered. Optimus rolled his eyes. "You think I'm strange." I commented.  
>"A little." He admitted, "But that's okay."<br>I looked at him, trying to figure out what he meant by that, but his face didn't give anything away. I gave up and we kept walking.

We eventually reached a clearing, much to my relief. There was a large temple-like building in the centre.  
>"It's in there." Jazz said quietly.<br>"How could it be in there?" I asked no-one in particular.  
>"Weak materials used for the roof?" Ironhide suggested, trying to lighten the mood, "Either way, the co-ordinates say that it's in there."<br>"What if it's a trap?"  
>"Clara, you're a Rogue." Jazz said exasperatedly, "you're raised not to trust anything. You think everything's a trap."<br>Normally I would've gone for him, but I remembered Optimus last night. I didn't want to let him down again. I stayed as I was and didn't even look at Jazz. He seemed surprised, and even a little disappointed.  
>Jazz eventually led us into the temple. It was a maze of twists and turns. I had a feeling that something wasn't quite right. It seemed to be getting quieter with every corner we turned. There was no sign of the crystal or the Decepticons or anything really.<br>"Roxy, can you sense anybody nearby?" I asked after about half an hour. There was no reply. "Roxy?" I asked, turning around. "Well, no wonder it's so quiet."  
>The corridor was empty behind us. Everyone had completely vanished.<br>"What happens now?" Jazz asked after a few minutes.  
>I couldn't shake the feeling that something very bad was going to happen, any second-<br>"Clara!" Optimus yelled suddenly.  
>He slammed into me from behind, knocking me to the ground. There was a loud crash, and then nothing.<br>"Optimus?" I asked quietly, not daring to open my eyes.  
>I could feel him on top of me. His head was resting on my shoulder, but he wasn't moving.<br>"Are you all right?" I asked him.  
>"Yeah." He said finally.<br>I breathed a sigh of relief and glanced past him. The whole corridor had caved in.  
>Optimus shifted his weight, trying to get off of me, and I saw him wince.<br>"What's wrong?" I asked nervously.  
>"My leg's caught under the rubble." He answered, his voice tight with pain. I felt his weight shift again and he groaned.<br>I rolled out from under him and snuggled up to him.  
>"What can I do?" I asked desperately, my breathing quickening.<br>"Clara, slow down your breathing or you'll hyperventilate. Just calm down and concentrate on getting the rocks off of me."

Easier said than done.  
>It took me about five minutes to calm down.<br>The rocks were too heavy for me to lift, since they were practically holding up what was left of the ceiling. Digging him out was hopeless. Whenever I got one rock out of the way another toppled down to take its place. I was afraid of shooting them out of the way in case I hit Optimus, or the rest of the ceiling came down on us. I couldn't just pull him out. That would just damage his leg even more.  
>We could hear Jazz and the kids on the other side of the rock pile. The kids had been dislodged when Optimus knocked me out of the way of the rocks, but Jazz had managed to catch them. They were all safe.<br>I wasn't so sure about us.  
>"Okay. This isn't gonna work." Optimus grunted after a few minutes. "You go ahead and see if you can find the others. I'll try and get myself out. If I don't catch up with you within the hour, get back here and I'll find you here."<br>I did as I was told, even though I didn't like the idea of splitting up. Optimus' plan sounded good. I could do that. Thing is, pretty much everything that sounds good in theory works out terribly when you put it to action.

I was lost. I was hopelessly lost. It had been about an hour and a half since I'd left Optimus, and I still couldn't find my way back to him. I turned a corner and stamped my foot in frustration as I entered yet another unfamiliar room.  
>I found myself on the floor at the foot of the wall, my arms hugging my legs sadly.<br>Why was I here? Why did Sentinel think I was so ready for a mission like this? I was useless. I couldn't even follow a corridor back to where I'd started. The only reason I'd had to come in the first place was to find the others, and I hadn't even been able to do that.  
>What had Optimus said to me earlier? I was the one he trusted most on this mission. Then he'd made me first lieutenant. I don't know what Optimus saw in me to make him trust me so much, when he'd known Ironhide and Jazz and the others for so much longer, but his trust was wasted on me.<br>I felt a tugging sensation. It was similar to how I felt whenever I thought about Optimus, but it seemed so much more….sinister. I looked up. I was still alone in the room, but something had changed. There was a door across from me that definitely hadn't been there before. There was something about it that drew me towards it. I got to my feet and started walking across the room, despite something in my head screaming at me to stop walking towards it, to run as far away from it as I possibly could and to hide. I carried on towards it, like I was in some sort of trance. I opened the door.

Big. Mistake.

At first I thought I'd finally found the exit. There was forest as far as I could see, but it _definitely_ wasn't an Earth forest. It was far too sinister, and the trees were so high I couldn't even see the tops of them. It let out an aura so dangerous and sinister; it could only be the forest back on Cybertron. I found myself frozen to the spot.  
>I don't know how long I just stood there, but I didn't move when I heard the door open behind me and someone ran inside, slamming the door shut behind them. Suddenly someone's arms locked around me and I was jerked out of my paralysis. I struggled and ended up kicking whoever it was in the shin with the heel of my foot. He cried out in pain and dropped me.<br>"Was there really any need for that?" Optimus grunted, sitting down in an attempt to relieve the pain in his leg. I'd accidentally kicked him on the leg that had been trapped under the rubble.  
>Oops.<br>"Sorry." I said quietly, kneeling down next to him. "Please don't sneak up on my like that again."  
>Optimus smiled apologetically and I helped him gently to his feet. He kept his weight off of his right leg, which was mangled and sparking.<br>"Where are we?" he asked me. I got the feeling he knew exactly where we were, he was just trying to help me understand what was going on.  
>"Forest on Cybertron." I gave him my best 'isn't it obvious?' look. He rolled his eyes.<br>"Do you know why we're here?"  
>"No." I said immediately.<br>Optimus sighed and explained.  
>"We're not actually in Cybertron's forest. We're still in the temple." He said patiently. "I came through this room earlier while I was looking for you. It was completely different. I think….I think this room projects your worst fears."<br>"My worst fears?" I repeated, glancing around the room, my mind filled with dread.  
>"Yes. Why?"<br>"Because we might want to get out of here."  
>"Clara, it's just a projection. It's not-"<br>And that was when the drums started.


	12. E3 Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Clara, what is this?" Optimus asked me, looking around the room warily.  
>Neither of us could tell which direction the drums were coming from, and that just scared me even more.<br>I didn't answer Optimus' question. I was too scared to make any sound. I just snuggled up to him where we were sitting against a tree. We'd been going to get out through the door we came in by, but it had completely disappeared.  
>"I can understand the forest, but what's with the drums?" Optimus was asking.<br>"I told you before, the first night we met. It's not the forest that scares me."  
>Optimus frowned, looking around again nervously. He had been trying to comfort me, but seeing that he was almost as nervous as I was didn't exactly help.<br>In a way I envied Optimus.  
>He didn't have a clue what was here. I knew exactly what was waiting for me. Something that had been haunting me all of my life, and I wasn't too anxious to meet him face-to-face for the first time since I was 7.<br>"You know…the day after we'd stayed at my dad's…when we were going past the forest?"  
>"Yeah."<br>"It was him. Watching us."  
>"Who?"<br>I shuddered and tightened my grip on him. Enough of my loved ones had died trying to protect me from this man, and I wasn't going to let Optimus do the same thing. I wasn't gonna be letting go any time soon. He ran a hand through my hair gently, allowing me to cling to him.  
>"What's in here Clara?" he asked me gently. "If you tell me, I can protect you from it. I can't fight something if I don't know what it is. I'd probably just get us both killed."<br>"I don't want you to protect me from it Optimus." I said quietly. "Enough people have died trying as it is."  
>Optimus looked at me, but apparently thought better than to say anything.<br>He shifted his position, pulling a face as the movement sent waves of pain shooting through his leg.  
>He lay down on his back carefully, pulling me down on top of him.<br>I rested my head on his chest, lying across him, still holding onto him as he ran his hand gently through my hair.  
>We were both trying to ignore the drums, and for some reason I found it easier to do today than I ever had before.<br>I lay there for a few minutes, feeling the rise and fall of his chest, listening to his steady breathing. If I'd had my way, I would have stayed there forever.

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end.

We'd been successfully blocking out the sounds of the drums, but in doing so we'd blocked out all the other noises around us as well, so if Optimus hadn't looked up when he did, we both would've been killed there and then. Optimus saw what was coming and he rolled us both out of the way. The spear buried itself almost half way into the ground where Optimus' head had been about half a second before.  
>The Cybertronian pulled his spear out of the ground, and Optimus raised his sword to block the strike. The attacker backed up a few steps and Optimus tried to rise, only to cry out in pain and fall as he tried to put his weight on his injured leg.<br>The assailant came after me, and I found myself barely able to stay ahead of his spear. I backed away from him, keeping my shield between the two of us.  
>Then Optimus was there, grabbing him from behind and dragging him back, away from me.<br>The stranger pulled a hunting knife from a sheath on his back and stabbed Optimus in his injured leg. Optimus screamed in pain and fell to the floor. The stranger raised his knife for the kill.  
>And I slammed into him from behind. It was probably the stupidest thing I'd ever done, which was saying something, but it worked. We rolled away from Optimus and fell apart. I felt an agonising pain in my shoulder and screamed, and the stranger vanished.<br>"Are you okay?" Optimus called to me  
>"Yeah." I shakily got to my feet and leaned against a tree for a moment before running over to him, collapsing to my knees when I reached him. My shoulder was burning, spreading the sharp pain through my body. I didn't know what had happened to it, and I was too afraid to look at it as Optimus sat up. I just stared at the floor, panting.<br>Optimus looked at me for a moment, and then wrapped his arms around me, careful not to touch my injured shoulder.  
>"Don't move." He suggested quietly.<br>He moved his right hand up to my shoulder and the pain suddenly increased. I pulled a face and rested my head on his shoulder, wrapping my good arm around him. Suddenly the sharp pain in my shoulder died down to a dull throb, and Optimus threw away the assailant's hunting knife.  
>I helped him to his feet and supported him as we walked. It was too dangerous to stay where we were. We had to find the exit before we were attacked again. Neither of us spoke at all.<br>After a few minutes Optimus had to stop. He was in a bad way. Tired, panting. His right leg was just getting worse and worse as we walked. The pain wasn't letting up at all. I leaned him against a tree and collapsed at his feet. I was exhausted. Optimus was actually very heavy, and my shoulder felt like it was being torn apart.  
>He sat down next to me and pulled me into his arms. I could feel his entire body shuddering with exhaustion. I snuggled up to him, careful to avoid his injured leg. I found it amazing that he could be so scared himself, and still have enough strength and bravery left over to comfort me. I felt a strange sensation and glanced around.<br>"Those bodies weren't there before were they?" I asked nervously.  
>Optimus looked up.<br>"No. But we could've just missed them." he sounded doubtful.  
>He pulled a face and shifted his injured leg into a more comfortable position. I was looking at the two bodies. They were both Cybertronians, and they were strangely familiar. Judging by their sizes, they'd only been kids when they died, and they'd both been here a long long long <em>long<em> time.  
>"Do you know who they are?" Optimus asked me.<br>"I have a guess." I replied quietly, "If I'm right then this room has some _sick_ mind."  
>"You look more angry than scared." Optimus commented.<br>"So?"  
>"The whole point of this room is to scare you. If this just pisses you off, why would it do it?"<br>"It's trying to make me feel guilty." I said after a few minutes.  
>"The only way it would make you feel guilty is if you were the one who caused their deaths."<br>I nodded.  
>"The guy who attacked us just now…" I said resignedly, "he tried to kill me when I was 7. Luke and Tessa tried to protect me, and he killed them."<br>"Luke and Tessa?"  
>"My older brother and sister."<br>"So earlier, when you were talking about how you didn't want me to die protecting you, after several people had done so already…"  
>"I was referring to them." I finished for him, nodding again.<br>"How old were they?"  
>"Luke was 14, Tessa was 12."<br>Optimus held me against him tightly, and we sat in silence for a few minutes. The drums had stopped.  
>"You're very brave." He said eventually.<br>"No I'm not." I replied sadly, "I'm terrified of pretty much everything."  
>"But you stand up to your fears. That's what makes you brave." Optimus corrected. "You would be a fool if you weren't afraid of anything. The whole point of fear is so that you gain the bravery to overcome it."<br>"You're very wise." I commented.  
>Optimus shrugged.<br>"Not really. I try. I fail very dramatically."  
>I laughed. Optimus was silent for a minute.<br>"Can I ask you something?" he asked me, hesitating.  
>"You just did, but yeah."<br>"The night I met you, when you were attacked by Starscream, you didn't really seem to want to fight back."  
>"So what's your question?"<br>"I was wondering if that was just fear, or…." He tailed off, but I knew what he was so reluctant to say. I sighed and shook my head.  
>"Optimus, I've had depression since I was 7. I'm suicidal."<br>I felt his grip tighten around me, almost protectively, but he didn't say anything.  
>"Is that the exit?" I asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.<br>I could see a door through the trees. Optimus looked up.  
>"I think it is."<br>I helped Optimus to his feet and we got to the door without any problems or challenges. We stepped through it, and it closed safely behind us, plunging us both into darkness.


	13. E3 Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

We'd barely gone down the fourth corridor after the forest room when a roar came echoing down from somewhere above us.  
>"Ravage." Optimus muttered. "He must've found one of the others."<br>Screaming started suddenly, and after a few seconds a trap door opened in the ceiling about a metre in front of us. Jazz and Ravage fell through it, Jazz screaming like a little girl. They landed in front of us, Jazz on top. Ravage pulled himself out from underneath him, snarled and Optimus and me, and ran off in the direction we'd come from. Jazz got to his feet.  
>"Where are the kids?" I demanded.<br>"Yeah, sure, don't worry about _me._" Jazz complained, holding out his hand to display the three kids nestled safely in his palm.  
>I blinked at him.<br>"What are you talking about?" I demanded, "Why the hell would I worry about _you_?"  
>I noticed Optimus roll his eyes and I had to hide a grin. Jazz glared at me.<p>

After a while our small group came to a large room in what appeared to be the centre of the temple. We hadn't come across any of the others on the way there, and as we looked into the room I saw why. Bumblebee, Arcee and Ironhide were tied to a giant pillar in the middle of the room, and gagged. Roxy was in a large cage nearby, snarling at any Decepticon that dared go anywhere near her. There were a lot of Decepticons in there.  
>"We have to get them out." Optimus whispered.<br>I nodded in agreement.  
>"What about the crystal?" Jazz hissed at us.<br>"I've already found it." Optimus held out his right hand, displaying a reddish-orange coloured crystal. A fire crystal.  
>"When did you get that?" I asked quietly.<br>"When I was looking for you." he whispered in response.  
>"So how are we gonna save them?" Jazz hissed<br>Optimus thought about it for a moment.  
>"I've got a plan." He whispered finally.<p>

Two minutes later Optimus and I were heading into the Decepticon-infested room. I was holding onto one of the swords Optimus had given me, as we'd hidden Optimus' fire crystal in its sheath. The sheath was about twice as long as the fire crystal, so it was the perfect hiding place. It was a bit hard to try and support Optimus, and hold a sword at the same time, but I wasn't eager to let go of either of them.  
>All of the Decepticons looked round as we came in, shocked, but they didn't make any move against us. Even so, it was only Optimus' comforting presence by my side that kept me from bolting. He lost his footing on the uneven ground, and I hissed in pain as the strain on my injured shoulder increased.<br>The other Autobots were staring at us, trying to warn us with their eyes to turn back and run the way we'd come. I gave Roxy a look as we passed by her cage. She nodded. Optimus had told me that Roxy had the ability to sense people's intentions, which made her invaluable as a guard for the village. The leopard-like Autobot could clearly sense what we were up to.  
>Optimus gave me a cautious look as we stopped in the middle of the room, close to the pillar where the Autobots were tied, but positioned in such a way that to look at us, the Decepticons wouldn't be able to watch the Autobots at the pillar at the same time. I knew what Optimus was worrying about. His plan was crazy, and if that wasn't enough it had to be so completely delicate as well. One false move here and the whole thing would be blown, and we could all be killed. So no pressure.<br>"What a pleasant surprise." A cold voice called from the end of the room. There was a dangerous tone to his voice, which I vaguely remembered as being the same voice that had been arguing with Starscream the day before, even though it seemed like so long ago now. The Decepticons parted before the newcomer, and I didn't need the groan of despair from one of the tied up Autobots to tell me how hopeless our case had suddenly become. Well Optimus, I hope you were proud, because your lessons had paid off well enough that I knew that I was looking at Megatron, leader of the Decepticons.


	14. E3 Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"I wasn't actually expecting either of you to turn up." Megatron was saying. "Ravage was telling me that you were both injured. I was expecting the two of you to chicken out. That's all you Rogues ever seem to be good at." He surveyed me curiously. "Starscream's told me all about you, Clara, though I don't have a clue how he knows so much about you. Are you sure you're making the right decision, siding with the Autobots?"  
>I glared at him. He shook his head sadly and turned to Optimus.<br>"Well, it's been a while, cousin. How are you?" Megatron took a step back and looked him up and down. "You don't look so good. That mangled leg hurts, huh?" his tone changed and suddenly he was shouting at us. "You have a lot of nerve coming here! I could kill you both easily! How long do you expect to last against me, weak as you are?"  
>"Actually we've already lasted longer than we really needed to." Optimus replied innocently.<br>Megatron stared at us.  
>"What are you talking about?"<br>"You always were blind to the painstakingly obvious. You see, brother, we were just the distraction."  
>Megatron stared at him for a minute, as if trying to figure out what he'd just said. Then his eyes widened.<br>"Have any of you **idiots **actually thought to check on the Autobot prisoners since these two came in?" he asked the Decepticons, his voice low, angry, dangerous. The Decepticons around fidgeted nervously and went to look.  
>"They're gone!" one yelled suddenly.<br>Megatron took a deep breath and headed round the back of the pillar. While there weren't any Decepticons paying attention to Optimus and me, I quickly broke open Roxy's cage. She ran across the room and got out, just as Megatron came back around the pillar, looking furious. He saw Roxy's empty cage and his anger grew until it was surrounding him like an aura.  
>"You two have just signed your own death warrant." He growled.<br>Optimus took his weight off of me, so he could shift it to his left leg and pull me into his arms, whispering apologies in my ear.  
>I don't know why he was apologising. We'd both known this was coming. With Optimus' injuries, there was no way we could get out of that room before they killed us. Optimus hadn't wanted me to come in with him at all, but there was no way in hell I was gonna let him go in there alone. We'd given Jazz the teleport remote and sent him to get the others and get out of there, with strict orders that none of them were to come back for us.<p>

We were both going to die here.

I was fine with it so long as it wasn't Starscream who killed me.  
>I'd survived for almost 9 million years; I was NOT going to be killed now, after all this time, by that COWARD.<br>Optimus was holding me tightly against him. Megatron was looking at us with a confused expression on his face.  
>"You knew you were never going to get out of here alive. It would've been a lot easier to just let your 'comrades' die. Why did you even bother coming for them?"<br>Optimus stared at him.  
>"Are you gonna kill us, or are you just gonna keep asking questions?" he asked, bored.<br>Megatron glared at him irritably.  
>"Oh, <strong>I'm<strong> not going to kill you." he laughed, a deep guttural sound, like he couldn't believe we were stupid enough to assume something like that. "To be honest, I really can't be bothered to kill either of you. Barricade will kill you." he nodded to Barricade, who immediately pulled out his gun excitedly. "Just make sure you clean up after yourself this time."  
>"Who should I kill first?" Barricade mused, barely giving his leader an irritated look at the comment.<br>"Just kill them both together!" Megatron yelled, having clearly lost any and all patience he had ever had.  
>Barricade grinned and went to pull the trigger on us. Immediately he was blasted back into Megatron by something so powerful it threw them both into the wall at the far end of the room. Everyone turned in the direction the bolt that had hit him had come from.<br>There, just inside the main entrance to the room, was Ironhide. One of his cannons was drawn and pointed at the space where Barricade had just been. Jazz was at his side, a little behind him, watching nervously.  
>"JAZZ!" Optimus yelled angrily, "I told you to get everyone out!"<br>"They wouldn't listen." Jazz said sheepishly.  
>"What do you mean 'they'?" Optimus growled, a slight warning tone to his deep voice.<br>"Er…" Jazz tailed off, noting the threat in his leader's voice.  
>He didn't actually need to say anything, however, as the other Autobots appeared in various places around the room.<br>Optimus groaned in frustration. If his leg wasn't so badly injured I swear he would've stamped it in annoyance.  
>"What part of 'get the fuck out of here' don't you guys understand?" he demanded.<br>That's how I knew he was pissed. See, Optimus never swears. Why should he, when most of the time I swear enough for both of us?  
>The other Autobots must've picked up on his anger. They looked a little guilty, but also fierce and determined.<br>Megatron had managed to get to his feet, though Barricade was still on the floor. He was looking around in astonishment.  
>"I'll never understand Autobots." He declared weakly. "You guys are suicidal."<br>I winced at his choice of words. The other Autobots didn't seem to be too pleased by the statement either.  
>"Says the one that actively encourages his men to kill themselves when they fail a mission." Optimus muttered, rolling his eyes.<br>He squeezed my shoulder gently. Comfortingly. I was grateful.  
>"You've already lost this fight, Megatron."<br>"I don't see how, **brother**." Megatron sneered mockingly. "Because as it stands, neither of us has found the crystal."  
>He looked around the room, as if weighing his chances against the Autobots. All of us were injured in some way.<br>For once I had an idea.  
>I looked at Roxy, praying that she would understand what I wanted of her. She gave me a nod and ran over to Arcee.<br>"What would you do with these crystals if you got all of them?" I asked. It was an obvious question, I know, but I was trying to stall for time. Optimus gave me a questioning look, but there was a clear warning in his eyes.  
>Megatron was looking at me like I was stupid.<br>"To take over the world…no, the universe!"  
>He started ranting and raving on about how brilliantly he could run the universe, and how great it would be, and I risked a look around the room. Ironhide had come over to us and was taking half of Optimus' weight, hissing something in the leader's ear.<br>I took his other side, keeping my eyes on Megatron as I helped them back away from him a little bit. The Decepticons weren't paying us any attention. Megatron was too busy ranting and raving away, and the other Decepticons were watching him in awe and respect and even fear at the things he was saying, getting louder and louder all the time until he was actually shouting about all the bad things there currently were in the universe, and how great it would be when he was in charge.  
>This guy was a lunatic.<br>He was raving so much that we were actually able to get out of the room without anybody noticing us.  
>"That was way too easy. Something really bad is gonna happen." I muttered as Jazz looked at the remote to the teleport, as if trying to figure out which button he had to press. He gave me a 'don't be ridiculous' look. Suddenly the teleport opened up beneath us and we were gone.<br>Thank Primus.

I think.


	15. Episode 4 Chapter 1

**(Episode 4)  
><strong>

**Chapter 1**

Okay, you may have figured this out already, but just in case you haven't, I'm just gonna go right out and say it.

I hate my life.

There. I said it.  
>I haven't exactly had the best life in the universe. Far from it. The two people I loved most in the world had died before I was really aware of what was going on around me. I'd had a really freaky stalker who never passed up on a chance to kill me stalking me for the better part of 9 million years.<br>My mum had left pretty much as soon as I was born, dumping me on my dad. The only time I'd ever seen her was when she came back 20 years ago to drop off a newly born Kaitlynn. A child that was unwanted by both her and her new husband.  
>And of course throughout all that time there were the nightmares. Nightmares that put me as an outcast even before I knew what they meant. Nightmares that had Kaitlynn dub me as a psychopath pretty much as soon as she learned to talk. Nightmares that convinced my dad to lock me up in a mental home whenever I admitted that I'd been having them. I'd learned the hard way to keep them to myself.<br>It was the medic in charge of me at the mental home that finally put everything together and was finally able to tell me what was wrong with me. He'd sworn by Primus that he'd never tell anyone without my permission. Not even my father.  
>So, yeah. I had a pretty good reason to hate my life.<br>Starscream hadn't exactly made things easy for me.  
>Okay. I'll admit something. I was in love with Starscream.<br>That was the real reason I'd been in Decepticon territory.  
>I'd been living with him for about 5 years when Optimus had finally found me. 5 years of him beating me up every night, and I was sick of it.<br>Then Optimus had found me. Suddenly I felt wanted and happy and truly loved for the first time since I'd started having the nightmares about Luke.  
>Now all of that was gone.<br>I was stuck in the middle of the forest on Cybertron, tied to a tree, listening to that freaky stalker as he wandered around the tiny clearing, shouting chants at the sky.  
>I figured it out a long time ago: he's a religious nut.<br>He's after me all the time because he thinks as the sort-of First Lieutenant for the Rogues I'll make a cool sacrifice.  
>Luke and Tessa just got in the way.<br>Most Cybertronians believe in Primus. This guy was one of the few exceptions to that rule. Don't ask me who his god was. I don't have a clue.  
>So, how did I get here? I'll give you a quick lesson:<p>

Never ever EVER trust Jazz with a teleport.

He didn't know how to get us back to the ship. He started button mashing.  
>I don't have a clue where the others were, but I was hoping that Jazz was enjoying himself even less than I was. If that was possible.<p>

So, yeah. I was tied to a tree. My swords had been taken off of me, impaled deep in the ground on the other side of the clearing. The only thing I had left at my disposal was Optimus' crystal, still in the sheath around my waist. Great.  
>Finally I got another idea.<br>"Hey, bozo!"  
>Freaky Religious Dude stopped chanting and glared at me.<br>"What do you want, Rogue?"  
>It was the first time I'd heard him talk properly. Creepy.<br>"Don't you think it's a good idea to make sure I'm completely weaponless before you do anything else?"  
>It wasn't the best idea in the world. I was hoping he'd put his hand in the sheath and get blasted. What I'd do then I had no idea. Of course, it didn't go to plan. He just took my whole tool belt, with the sheaths attached, and threw the whole thing across the clearing. Dammit.<br>I looked at the sky. Okay, so this next thing probably wasn't gonna work either. It was worth a try. I closed my eyes and blotted out the sounds of the chanting.  
><em>So, Primus…I know I haven't actually spoken to you at all except to complain about how terrible my life is.<em> I thought desperately. _But please. Please listen to me now. I don't care how I die. You know that. But please, don't let this guy kill me. Please. Or if that's against your will for me or something, then please…_ I hesitated, then put my whole being behind one final wish. _Please just allow me the honour of seeing Optimus one final time before I die. Please._  
>I lowered my head, not opening my eyes, and repeated my prayer, over and over.<br>Nothing happened.  
>Thanks a lot Primus. This is why I accuse you of never listening to me.<br>I gave up, watching Freaky Religious Dude dance around the clearing. I thought about what I'd prayed for a moment. If that guy suddenly turned into Starscream or Optimus just to kill me, it would just prove something I'd suspected for a while: Primus had a really sick sense of humour.  
>Then again…<br>I tried struggling against the ropes, in vain of course, as he drew that hunting knife from the sheath on his back, coming over to me.  
>This wasn't that illusion Optimus and I had come across in the temple this morning. This was the real deal. This was 20 meters of killing machine, and he wasn't going to back off like the projection. He was gonna stop at nothing to see me lying dead on the floor<br>Clearly there was no way in hell I was gonna survive this. I lowered my head and closed my eyes, reminding myself to apologise to Primus, and wondering why it was me that he had singled out for such a rotten life. I waited for that final blow, almost relieved that all this was finally coming to an end.  
>It never came.<br>I felt and heard something slam into the tree neck to my head, and a hand lay much more gently on my chest, just above my spark, which almost melted in its chamber. It would've, too, only it was too busy jumping for joy. There was only one person in my known universe that could induce that kind of reaction in me.  
>I opened my eyes.<br>Sure enough, it was Optimus standing in front of me, his forehead resting against mine, his eyes closed.  
>"You okay?" he asked me, not moving or opening his eyes or anything.<br>His weight was on his left leg, and he was leaning heavily on his left hand, which was pressed against the tree for support.  
>"Yeah."<br>Optimus was panting harshly, his warm breath flowing over my face. His body was shaking with exhaustion as he carefully cut the ropes binding me to the tree. He'd opened his eyes.  
>They reflected his body's pain.<br>His leg was even worse than before, sparking angrily.

He was in all this pain, and it was all my fault.  
>There were so many times when I could have stopped this.<br>Back in the temple, I'd been so stupid that I hadn't even noticed the avalanche of rocks I'd been about to be buried under. I'd been such a coward in that forest room that Optimus had almost been killed trying to save me from my own fear. I should've made Optimus stay behind with the teleport while I went in and distracted the Decepticons by myself. It didn't matter if I was killed in all this. Now he'd done himself what could be irreparable damage walking for hours through this thrice accursed forest, looking for me.  
>"What territory are we in?" I asked him desperately.<br>Optimus shrugged.  
>"Rogue, I think. Near the village where your dad is."<br>I pulled a face.  
>"Autobot turf would've been better, but Rogue will do. I have to get you over there." I took his weight, my injured shoulder making itself known once again, and I winced as it ached in protest.<p>

It took about twenty stops to get to the Rogue village. I hadn't had a proper recharge since before we left Autobot turf. I was TIRED. No. Scratch that. Optimus was tired. I was exhausted.  
>It was shock that was keeping me awake. My processors were working overtime yo try and figure out what had just happened.<br>My most terrible fear, Freaky Religious Dude, was dead. I was finally free from the fear that had plagued me for almost my whole life. I was safe.  
>That was a weird, new feeling.<br>But why did I get the feeling it wasn't over?  
>Meanwhile, my spark was oh-so-innocently jumping around in its chamber at how close Optimus was.<br>That was another reason I was so shocked.  
>Optimus actually cared about me enough that he would come looking for me, weak as he currently was, and save me. Again.<br>And I was doomed.  
>Seriously.<br>All the way back to the village I found myself thanking Primus, over and over. I would have a go at the god later for dooming me.  
>So, we did get to the village.<br>Eventually.  
>My dad was making so much fuss over the two of us that I almost collapsed out of exhaustion before he finally thought to send for a medic, half an hour later. The medic arrived and took Optimus off my hands, and the last thing I remember is collapsing on the sofa.<p> 


	16. E4 Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**  
>When I woke up, it was dark. That was the first thing I noticed. Which was weird since it had been sunrise when we reached the village.<br>The second thing I noticed was that my injured shoulder had been healed.  
>The third thing I noticed was that I was in Optimus' arms.<br>I blinked as my eyes became accustomed to the dark. We were in my bedroom. Optimus was lying on his back on my bed with me on top of him. His left arm was round my waist and he was running his right hand through my hair.  
>So he was awake.<br>Great. Now I couldn't even eject him.  
>See, I made it a rule not to let any boys in my room, as my dad bloody well knows. So it was weird when I moved to the Autobot base and had to share a room with Optimus. Especially since there was so little space.<br>I had blatantly refused to share a room with Starscream for the five years that I'd been living with him.  
>I felt Optimus shift his position beneath me and quickly shut my eyes, pretending to be asleep until I sorted out the mess of thoughts in my head. The green light that my eyes gave off would have given me away straight away. He'd probably noticed already, but it was worth a-<br>"I know you're awake, Clara." He murmured quietly.  
>-try.<br>I squirmed around in his arms so that I could hug him.  
>"Are you okay?" I asked him quietly.<br>"Yeah." Optimus, if he was still in pain, certainly didn't sound like it. He just sounded tired. That was understandable. I'd slept all day and I still felt tired.  
>"Is there any word on the others?" I asked him, resting my hand on his chest.<br>"No. Not yet."  
>"So we're gonna spend the whole of tomorrow looking for them?"<br>"Probably." I felt Optimus shift his position beneath me. "Your armour's so cold…"  
>Okay, it was true. I was freezing. Which was weird since I don't normally get cold<br>Optimus was the only source of warmth I could feel, and I was snuggled up to him almost desperately.  
>Optimus was silent and unmoving for so long I thought he'd fallen asleep. He hadn't.<br>I yelped as he rolled us both over carefully so that he was on top of me, trapping in any warmth.  
>It worked.<br>I was suddenly a lot warmer.  
>Lying there, cradled in my teacher's arms, I fell asleep again all too quickly.<p>

I woke up to a loud knocking on the door.  
>It was morning. Optimus was asleep next to me, his arms wrapped around me tightly and his head resting gently on mine. I yawned and rolled carefully onto my side so I could snuggle up to him without disturbing him.<br>The person knocked on the door again, so hard that it rattled under the blows. Optimus woke with a start.  
>"Clara!" my dad yelled from the other side of the door. "Wake up and get downstairs!"<br>Optimus and I listened as his footsteps retreated from the door.  
>"It's not that freak from the forest you know." Optimus murmured to me affectionately once he was gone, pulling me against him tightly.<br>"I know."  
>"So why are you so scared of opening the door?"<br>"I'm not. I'm too tired to open the door. Don't wanna move." I complained, not bothering to open my eyes as I just lay there in his arms.  
>I sensed Optimus smile, but I didn't move.<br>My dad did eventually manage to evict Optimus and me from my room. We headed towards the outskirts of the Rogue village, in the hope of leaving and searching for the others.  
>We didn't get 5 metres away from the house.<br>"Team Ninja!"  
>The cry from behind made Optimus come to a dead halt and turn around to see who had spoken just out of pure shock. I smiled and rolled my eyes. Of course.<br>This was probably the only thing I'd missed about Rogue turf since I'd left to live with Starscream five years ago.  
>The only thing that had kept me going after Luke and Tessa died.<br>My closest friends.  
>I turned and raised my arm in greeting as they ran over.<br>Shouri reached us first. She was the shortest out of the four of us, but what she lacked in height, she more than made up for in speed.  
>But Kodi wasn't long in catching up.<br>"Were you seriously gonna leave without saying 'goodbye'?" Kodi asked as soon as she got to us.  
>"Or 'hello' for that matter." Shouri added.<br>"Dad said you were out scouting." I told them apologetically.  
>"Just got back." Shouri confirmed, nodding.<br>Optimus was eyeing the two girls warily. Noticing this, Kodi turned to him.  
>"And I hope you're keeping our Clara safe." She said, stepping towards him with playful attitude. She laughed as he took a surprised step backwards.<br>Shouri looked my teacher up and down and turned to me.  
>"Er…who is he?"<br>I smiled.  
>"Optimus, this is Kodi and Shouri. Team Ninja, Optimus Prime."<br>Shouri looked from me to Optimus and back again.  
>"Is this about the territory again?" she asked doubtfully.<br>I shook my head.  
>"So who are you exactly?" Optimus asked uncertainly.<br>"Team Ninja." Kodi replied instantly in her famous 'isn't it obvious?' voice.  
>Optimus stared at her blankly.<br>"'Team Ninja'?" he repeated weakly.  
>"Yep."<br>Optimus waited a moment.  
>"Could you please expand on that?"<br>"We're the best scouting group in the village." Shouri said proudly.  
>"So you're good at finding people?"<br>"The best at finding people." she confirmed, nodding.  
>"Can you help us?" Optimus asked, his teeth clenched like he couldn't believe the words were coming out of his mouth.<br>I smiled and found myself shaking with silent laughter. He offered me a glare and turned to Team Ninja.  
>"Sure we can." Kodi said happily. "Who are you looking for?"<br>"A small group of Autobots."  
>"And where were they last seen?"<br>Optimus glanced at me.  
>"A planet a couple of hundred light-years away. We lost them because of teleport trouble."<br>"Teleport trouble?" Shouri asked, turning to me. "With one of yours?"  
>"Jazz started button mashing." I replied defensively.<br>"Jazz?"  
>I sighed and peered at the two of them.<br>"Where's Shannon?" I asked curiously.  
>"She's still out scouting." Kodi replied distractedly. She thought for a moment and shuddered. "Near the Old Mansion."<br>Shouri shuddered as well.  
>"What is it with you two and the Old Mansion?" I demanded.<br>"It's haunted. You know that." Kodi replied, shuddering again.  
>"Haunted?" Optimus asked sceptically, looking at me.<br>"It's not." I replied, shaking my head. "It's just a story told around the village to stop kids going in there."  
>"No it's not." Shouri rebuked.<br>"It is." I snapped back. "I've been in there, remember. It's a death trap, which is why they want everyone staying out, but it's definitely not haunted."  
>Shouri and Kodi gave me looks that said clearly that they weren't convinced. Optimus was starting to look bored. I sighed again.<br>"So can you two help us or not?"  
>"Yeah we can help you." Kodi replied, suddenly back to her usual happy self.<br>"Thankyou."

After a while we were _FINALLY_ leaving the village.  
>We decided to stick together for a while, since Kodi and Shouri weren't really the best fighters in the world, and Optimus looked like he'd die if he was left alone with one of them for even a few minutes.<br>We'd decided it was best to find Shannon before we started looking for anyone else, so it was the direction of the Old Mansion that we headed in.  
>The Old Mansion was this…well, really old mansion.<br>The whole place is condemned. It sags like it can hardly keep itself up anymore, which it can't, and the whole thing smells of age. Apart from that, it does actually have the look of a haunted house. It's surrounded by forest on most sides, which towers over it completely, so it never gets any sun on it.  
>There was a fence that had been put around it, to keep people out, since my dad really couldn't be bothered to get the place demolished.<br>The gate had a large, intimidating locked gate at the front of it to keep people away.  
>The fence had only been put up when I went in there.<br>I'd never really believed that it was haunted, so it really annoyed me that Team Ninja were always going on about how haunted they thought it was. I'd  
>gone in there to prove that it wasn't haunted. It didn't work. Obviously, they were still going on about how haunted they thought it was.<br>So, yeah. After a while we came to the Old Mansion.  
>It was dark and dreary. Big surprise.<br>The gates were shut and locked, like they'd been ever since they'd been put up.  
>The place gave me an uneasy feeling. Not like I was scared, just like there was something really important in there that I was missing.<br>We carried on past.  
>"Was Shannon wearing her radio?" I asked after a while.<br>"No." Kodi replied glumly. "The enemies we were tracking had the technology to track radios. It was too dangerous to take any radios with us."  
>I sighed but nodded. It wasn't something we could do anything about now.<br>I was starting to feel rather faint and tired, even though I'd spent most of the past two days asleep. For some reason, my optics were blurry from lack of recharge. I could've been about to walk into a wall and I wouldn't even-  
>Wall.<br>Ow.  
>I stopped walking and shook my head in an attempt to clear it. I was only vaguely aware of Shouri and Kodi muttering, and Optimus asking me if I was okay. I had a hand on my head, like that would somehow help. My vision was even blurrier than before, and it was fading. Then the world was tilting and the ground was rushing up to meet me and everything was black.<p> 


	17. E4 Chapter 3

**This chapter's a little upsetting, so if you don't like that kind of stuff, you don't have to read it.  
><strong>

**Chapter 3**  
>When I awoke I was lying on the hard, painful ground, with Optimus, Kodi and Shouri looking down at me.<br>Um, excuse me.  
>I'm just an average Cybertronian, NOT something to be stared at. Please stop.<br>"Are you all right?" Optimus asked me uncertainly.  
>"Yeah." I pulled a face and sat up. "What happened?"<br>"You fainted."  
>"At least, we hope you fainted." Kodi broke in. "'Cause if you fell asleep…"<br>Optimus gave me a questioning look.  
>"They've been going on like this for a while now. What are they talking about?"<br>"It doesn't matter." I allowed my teacher to pull me to my feet, and turned to Kodi and Shouri. "Everything's fine."  
>"All right." Shouri sighed, "In that case, we should get going."<br>We headed off again. I lagged behind awkwardly, just behind Optimus. It was about ten minutes later that I finally got up my courage and quickened my pace to fall into step beside him.  
>"There's something I've really got to take care of." I told him quietly, so the others couldn't hear, "Please, don't tell Kodi or Shouri I'm gone. If they notice, just tell them I'll catch up with you later."<br>He gave me a questioning look, but nodded, and I started running back the way we'd come.

It was about two hours later that I next saw them. I was tired, upset and angry, sitting at the table in the kitchen of my dad's house, in the middle of a blazing argument with him, when they came in. Surprisingly with the other Autobots, and the three human sparklings, in tow.  
>"You lied, didn't you?" Shouri accused as they came in, "You fell asleep."<br>"Yeah."  
>My dad gave me a look, and glanced at the Autobots warily. He wouldn't dare do anything to me while they were there, unless I pushed him off the edge.<br>"What happened?" Kodi asked warily, seeing the sadness and anger on my face.  
>I hesitated before I answered.<br>"Shannon and Graham are both dead."  
>Kodi and Shouri were staring at me in horror, like they were praying that they had misheard me.<br>"It's no great loss to the village!" my dad protested, "They were both weak. They can be easily replaced, both of them."  
>"Tell that to Shannon's creators." I told him, "Graham's mate and sparklings."<br>He fell silent. Shouri sat down weakly.  
>"I just can't believe it…" she said quietly, "How did it happen?"<br>"Decepticon."  
>"I'll kill 'im." Kodi said, going to storm out dramatically.<br>"I've already done it." I told her.  
>"So it was the one that you chased here from the old mansion?"<br>I looked at her.  
>"How did you know that?"<br>"We found this." She replied, depositing a large metal machine on the table, about the size of my head.  
>It had a screen which showed the registration numbers and positions for all of the Rogues, Autobots and Decepticons in the area. It was following the tracking chip inbuilt into all Cybertronians' armour.<br>"It's how we found your friends." Kodi told me, "We saw Graham and the Decepticon disappear in your workshop."  
>I nodded. Optimus was standing behind me, a hand on my shoulder comfortingly.<br>"Well, since you've got everyone now," my dad interrupted, "I think you should leave."

"Clara!" a young voice cried out as we came out of the house.  
>I smiled and picked up the 5-yr-old sparkling easily as she ran over to me, happy to just snuggle up in my arms. Annalease had been born only a few days before I had left to live with Starscream, so I hadn't seen her much at all throughout her short life. Still, I cherished the time I got to spend with my younger half sister.<br>"Are you gonna leave again?" Annalease asked nervously, already knowing the answer.  
>"Yeah. I have to."<br>"Are you going back to Starscream?"  
>I felt myself stiffen slightly.<br>"No." I shook my head and put her down. "You go on now. Mum will be looking for you."  
>For a moment I thought I saw a hint of fear in Annalease's green optics, but it was gone so quickly I persuaded myself I'd imagined it.<br>"You'll come and see me real soon, right."  
>I smiled.<br>"Yeah, of course I will."  
>She looked relieved at that, and ran off.<br>"Who is she?" Optimus asked me.  
>The other Autobots had gone ahead, leaving town in search of a place where we could teleport without any interruptions. Shouri was still inside. Kodi was watching the two of us curiously.<br>"My sister." I replied.  
>"What was that she was saying about Starscream?"<br>"Nothing." I said, way too quickly to be believed.  
>"It's nothing that you loved him and lived with him for five years?" I heard Kodi ask sarcastically behind me. I ignored her and started walking, pretending I couldn't hear her. Optimus was quick to catch up with me.<br>"You used to live with Starscream?"  
>"Yep." I replied, not slowing down or even looking at him. "So what?"<br>"Clara, I have to know." Optimus sped up a little so he could turn to face me, holding my arms to keep me in place. "I mean, really, how do I know you are not going to betray us to Starscream?"  
>I looked at him angrily, but I was pleading with him as well. Praying that he would believe me.<br>"Optimus, I would rather die than betray you, or anyone else, to Starscream." I gently pulled away from his grip. "You have no idea what he did to me."  
>The anger in Optimus' optics receded, to be replaced with sadness and regret.<br>"I'm sorry," he told me, taking a step towards me. I didn't resist as he pulled me into his arms. "I'm sorry."  
>We stood like that for a few minutes, then I reluctantly pulled away from him.<br>"Come on." I said quietly. "We should get back to the others, before they start getting in trouble again."

Thankfully, we got to the ship without any problems this time. Not even Jazz said anything to me when we got back. They could sense that I was in a bad mood.  
>I went straight to my room so I could try to catch up on lost recharge time. So many teleport trips wasn't doing me any good. Also, Earth and Cybertron obviously have a huge time difference. We'd come from noon on Cybertron to late night on Earth, a couple of days after we left. The sparklings had quickly gone home as soon as we got back to the ship.<br>It was about 3am local time when recharge finally found me.  
>It wasn't a good thing.<br>I woke up about two minutes later, and I was up and out of that room like a bullet from a gun.  
>I ended up slamming into Optimus. Don't ask me what he was doing outside my room at 3am. Heck, there's no point even asking <em>him<em>. I've tried. A lot of times. He appears to turn deaf until the subject is changed.  
>Thankfully we were both still standing, considering how frantic I was.<br>"Whoa! Clara! What's wrong? I, er, thought you were recharging."  
>I dashed past him and sprinted up the corridor, not even pausing to apologise. Thankfully he could tell, as you've hopefully realised by now: I was in a rush. I could hear him calling after me as I ran up the stairs, but I didn't offer him any kind of response.<br>I activated the teleport, inputting the coordinates I knew so well, grabbing the remote from its shelf.  
>As the teleport opened up in front of me, I felt something, or someone, slamming into the back of me, knocking us both through.<br>"_What_ are you _doing_, Ironhide?" I demanded as I got to my feet.  
>"I could ask you the same question." The weapons specialist replied as I shut down the teleport. "At least I've got an excuse."<br>"Oh yeah? What's your excuse?"  
>"Optimus sent me." He replied coolly. "Where are we? What are we doing here?"<br>I ignored him and started running again. I didn't have time for this. I heard him following me.  
>It was only a few minutes to our destination.<br>The house we were looking for was apart from the rest of the Rogue village. The house next door to it was further than houses usually were. The upstairs window was open in the house we were headed to. The light was on, but I couldn't see anything inside.  
>"MUM!" I screamed, "ANNALEASE!"<br>There was no reply.  
>I sprinted round to the front of the house, praying to Primus that I would get there in time.<br>The front door was unlocked. I opened it and ran inside, upstairs to where I'd seen the light.  
>It was coming from a room at the end of the corridor. The door stood open.<br>I ran in and I swear I felt so sick at what I saw that my spark almost failed me completely.  
>I wish it had.<br>It would've saved me the agonising pain I've had to endure between then and now.  
>I stumbled through the door weakly and fell to my knees.<br>I was too late.  
>My mother had already left, and she had already done the devastating thing I'd tried, and failed, to stop.<br>"What happened here?" Ironhide asked me.  
>I didn't answer him as I pulled Annalease's limp, lifeless form into my arms, cradling her as I rocked back and forth, sobbing softly.<p> 


	18. E4 Chapter 4

**Songs Bumblebee uses are _Abandon Your Friends_ by From Autumn To Ashes and _Structure_ by InnerPartySystem. Neither of these songs belong to me.  
><strong>

**Chapter 4**  
>What was left of Team Ninja insisted I stay a while this time, at least for the funerals, and Ironhide got permission from Optimus for the two of us to stay. We found my mother, and it took all my strength to keep myself from murdering her for what she had done as she was arrested.<br>Annalease's funeral was on the last day, and after that I found myself lying on my old bed in my dad's house, staring at the ceiling without really seeing it.  
>I was thinking, but it wasn't Annalease I was thinking about. That was a subject I refused to force my processors to stumble over.<br>I was thinking about an older Cybertronian femme.  
>She'd come to find me when I was 7 years old, and I met her a little while after Tessa died. I couldn't remember her name, or what she looked like, or what she had said.<br>There was one thing I remembered.  
>I climbed off the bed and knelt down, pulling a small box out from under it, right where I'd left it.<br>I pulled the lid off and stared at the contents.  
>This box still contains my most prized possessions and precious memories.<br>There's never been much in it.  
>I looked through the box, moving aside the photos and trinkets until I got to one of the oldest things in the box. It was certainly the oddest thing in there. It was a large medallion, the likeness of a dragon, its wings folded, engraved on the metal. I ran a finger over it slowly, lost in thought. There were one or two things I did remember about the old femme. I remembered thinking she was strange. I'd been a little bit afraid of her. Also, something she'd said to me as she handed me the medallion.<br>"_Accept what you are, learn to control it, and you can control your own destiny."_

I brought my box back to the ship with me, and hid the medallion in one of my drawers, the box under my bed.  
>After a few minutes just lounging around feeling sorry for myself I made up my mind. I wandered out of my room, down the corridor to Optimus' room, a couple of doors away, and hesitated outside the locked door. I wanted to see him, badly, but…he would know. He would know what I wanted to do. He would stop me.<br>"Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"  
>Seeing that my choice had already been made for me, I turned to face my teacher, and threw my arms around him, happy when he pulled me close and held me tightly.<br>"Not really." I answered him quietly, "I just wanted some company."  
>I felt Optimus tilt his head slightly, my spark beating faster at the feeling of his face against my neck.<br>"I'm sorry." I told him.  
>"For what?"<br>"Everything."  
>Optimus pulled away from me a little bit and rested my forehead against mine, so he could eye me curiously.<br>"Clara, what's wrong?" he asked me, the desperation obvious in his face, "You can tell me. You know that."  
>I eyed him uncertainly, then my mouth brushed lightly against his in something too brief and fleeting to be a kiss.<br>I pulled out of his suddenly unresisting arms and back into my room, the door locking automatically behind me.  
>I went over to the chest of drawers next to my bed, and opened the top drawer, hesitating as I moved the medallion aside, searching instead for the only other thing that was in there. I closed my optics as my fingers gripped it tightly, bringing it to my side. I gritted my teeth in an attempt to keep myself from screaming as the agonising pain shot through my body from where I had struck myself. I opened my optics with a gasp, barely noticing the knocking on the door as I stared at the stained knife in my hand. The pain was strong and harsh in my side, but the rest of my body was numb. I didn't, couldn't, do anything to stop the knife falling through my fingers and clattering to the ground.<br>My vision was blurred and faded, and the world was silent.  
>It was with relief that I allowed the darkness to take me.<p>

Most people dream of rainbows and teddy bears (it's what I used to dream about until I was 6), or celebrity hotties and crushes (never happened to me, but I've heard that some guys and girls experience it), or happy things in general (yeah, right).  
>Me?<br>I dream of Death.  
>Death finds his way into all of my dreams one way or another.<br>When I'm not having nightmares about losing the ones closest to me, my dreams can sometimes be pleasant.  
>Those are the times I dream about my own death.<br>I always imagine it being easy, and peaceful. No more worries, no more sadness, no more heartache or pain or anger.  
>It would be everything that my life wasn't, but that I'd always wanted it to be.<br>Maybe, just maybe, I would be happy.  
>It couldn't be any worse than this dump, anyway.<br>But there's a problem with all of this. See, the thing about dreams?  
>You always have to wake up.<p>

I woke up to a loud crashing, made even louder by the ship's metal walls, which only served to echo the sound and bounce it back at us.  
>My vision was blurred, and my hearing was fuzzy, but I thought I could hear someone calling my name.<br>I let out a light groan, shifting slightly. I hurt. All over.  
>Still, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.<br>It was another few minutes before I could see and hear properly again. Ratchet, the medic from Autobot turf, was leaning over me, with Sideswipe and Arcee.  
>I was in my room on the ship, and a glance around told me that Ironhide and Bumblebee were just inside the door…or, doorway…what was left of it.<br>"What happened?" I asked weakly.  
>Ratchet frowned at me.<br>"Don't you remember trying to kill yourself?"  
>"I wasn't talking about that." I snapped. My suicide attempt had been trashed. Again. Dammit.<br>Ratchet looked round to see what I was eyeing so warily.  
>"Optimus got a little bit worried when you wouldn't answer the door." he said, "We found it easier to just leave it like that so we can get in and out easily." He glanced at his student, who was watching him. "All right Sideswipe. Let's go." Turning back to me, he said, "You'll be fine. Just don't get up any time soon. Sideswipe and I are outside if you need us."<br>He left, Sideswipe in tow.  
>'<em>We've abandoned our best friends.' <em>Bumblebee accused me through the radio as he came closer.  
>"I know, Bumblebee. I'm sorry."<br>'_Why did you bend and break?'_  
>"I'm sorry, Bee." I insisted quietly, "I just couldn't take it anymore."<br>We all looked up, wincing, as another crash echoed through the ship.  
>"What's going on?" I asked.<br>"Optimus is pissed off." Arcee replied.  
>"I need to see him."<br>"Whoa." Ironhide stepped forward to interrupt, "You can't just go bouncing in there after three weeks and-!"  
>"I don't think I'll be bouncing anywhere for a while yet, Ironhide." I laughed, then my processors came to terms with the weapons specialist's full sentence. "Wait, what do you mean, 'three weeks'? Three weeks since what?"<br>"Well…" Arcee looked uncomfortable, "You've been in a sort of…coma."  
>I blinked."Well…that explains why the stab wound doesn't feel as bad as it should."<br>"Ratchet said it'll only be a day or so now." Ironhide told me.  
>I was already feeling better than I had when I had woke up, so I sat upright. My side was throbbing, but quietly enough that I could easily just ignore it.<br>"I can go and see Optimus now." I told them, "I feel well enough."  
>Another crash. Ironhide stared at me.<br>"Right now? With him like _this_?"  
>I sighed and climbed out of the bed. Immediately my head started aching and I felt dizzy. My balance was completely out of whack.<br>Ironhide sighed, and he and Bumblebee helped me up properly.  
>They got me to the bedroom door, then I was strong enough to get to Optimus' open door by myself.<br>I'd only been in Optimus' room once before, and it had been nothing like this. The once tall, proud bookshelf was on its side, its contents spilled all over the room. Everything in there, usually so neat and well looked after, was suddenly messy and broken.  
>Optimus' storm had, for the moment, blown over. My teacher was sitting on his bed with his head in his hands.<p> 


	19. E4 Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Optimus?" I asked uncertainly, lingering in the doorway.  
>The older Autobot looked up at me, and gestured for me to come closer.<br>I limped over to him and sat on the bed next to him.  
>"Are you angry at me?" I asked after a few minutes. In that time he hadn't made a sound, or moved, or even looked at me.<br>"No." he said finally. "I'm…angry at myself."  
>I blinked.<br>"Why?"  
>Optimus sighed and lay back on the bed.<br>"I don't know. I just feel like I drove you to it."  
>I tilted my head slightly as I processed that information.<br>"How'd you figure that one out?" I, for some reason, found that rather funny since it was so stupid. Optimus didn't agree.  
>"Well, between being your leader, your teacher, and the one you spend the most time with when you're not locked in your room," I shifted uncomfortably at that last point. I'd come to a conclusion about that, and it wasn't one I felt comfortable discussing at that moment of time. Maybe later. "I just feel like I should've been able to prevent…" he hesitated, "…it."<br>I looked down at him where he was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling.  
>"How could you have prevented it when you didn't even know it was coming?"<br>"I should've suspected something from how you were acting before you tried to…before it happened."  
>I pulled a face.<br>"I can't remember what I did before. Remind me?" Okay, so maybe I did remember exactly what had happened, I just wanted to know what he thought it had all been about.  
>Optimus thought about it for a moment.<br>"Well, you hugged me, and you told me you were sorry for everything."  
>I tilted my head, just to go with the act. What did he make of what happened next then?<br>"Was that all?" I asked. I had to be careful here, since I didn't want to offend him.  
>Optimus tilted his head, but didn't say anything.<br>"Oh, Primus. What did I do that's so bad you don't even want to talk about it?"  
>He blinked.<br>"Nothing. It's just I don't even know what you did next."  
>"Well did I do anything after that?"<br>"Yes."  
>I looked at him.<br>"And…?"  
>"I'll tell you later." Optimus suddenly sounded tired. "Maybe if you told me what was going through your head at the time, I would be able to figure out what it all meant."<br>I hesitated.  
>"Well, I don't think…I didn't know for sure at the time…whether I was actually gonna try committing suicide again or not."<br>Optimus flinched at the word 'suicide'. I frowned slightly at his reaction, but decided not to pursue it. 'Suicide' was a word that came up daily for me. It was a natural part of who I was. If someone asked me to describe myself, 'suicidal' was the first word that came into my processors. I wasn't afraid to admit to myself, or others, that that was what I was. I was so accustomed to it I often said it without thinking, forgetting that most people weren't as comfortable with topics like that as I was. It started getting really awkward when I offended someone who had lost someone close to them to suicide.  
>"Could you please not try something like that again?" Optimus was asking.<br>Okay, so Optimus definitely didn't deserve it, but suddenly I could feel my anger levels rising.  
>"Why?" I asked him coldly, "So you don't loose a fighter? So you don't get in trouble with Sentinel for not keeping me alive?"<br>Optimus sat up, shocked, and I could sense his anger at my words. I was refusing to look at him.  
>"Why are you saying this?" he asked quietly after a minute, barely able to contain the anger behind his words.<br>I eyed him angrily.  
>"Because you don't seem to care how I feel." I told him, "You don't care how much I'm hurting inside; you seem to be willing to just make me go on suffering so long as I'm still useful to you."<br>I could sense my teacher's anger dying down until only grief and a deep, ageless sadness remained.  
>"That's not it." He said quietly, a slight sigh in his voice. "I don't think you've realised the real reason." He held a hand out to me. "Come here." He said softly.<br>I gave him a suspicious look, but his calm seemed to have affected me as well. I wasn't angry anymore. I snuggled up to him and allowed him to wrap his arms around me.  
>"So what's the real reason?" I asked him bitterly after a few minutes of him just rocking me back and forth. I felt him hesitate.<br>"I…" he sighed, "I don't want to loose you."  
>I blinked and tilted my head as I processed what he'd said.<br>"You don't have a clue what I'm trying to say, do you?"  
>"No." I said immediately, "I really don't know what you're getting at here."<br>Optimus didn't even try to hide his bemusement.  
>"Clara, it would be hard enough to say this if you actually understood what I'm trying to say."<br>I processed different things he might be trying to get at, but only came to one conclusion.  
>"Wait, you…?" I tailed off as I processed that conclusion.<br>"You've figured it out?" Optimus asked me. I thought he sounded a little nervous, but I must've been imagining it. Optimus was never nervous.  
>"I have a suspicion." I shuffled away from him a little, so I was kneeling on the bed next to him, watching him.<br>"And what's your suspicion?" he asked me.  
>I thought for a minute.<br>"Well, see, it's the kind of suspicion that'll probably offend you if I'm wro-!"  
>I was cut off as my teacher pulled me back into his arms, and kissed me.<p>

I was _dead_. And not in the way that I'd always wanted to be. I was doomed. See, one of Sentinel's most important of the rules of conduct?_  
>Teachers and Students are forbidden from getting into any kind of relationship<em>.  
>I love Optimus. Optimus loves me.<br>So what was the problem?  
>If Sentinel found out he would murder both of us.<br>I'm suicidal, but somewhere in my processors I'd decided that that wasn't what I wanted to be. So that small part of my processors kept trying to snap me out of it by latching onto things that I might care about enough to give me a reason to live. Since that night I'd run away from Starscream, that had been Optimus.  
>So I wasn't as eager as I normally would be for that murder to happen.<br>So, we had to keep this a secret from the others, otherwise Sentinel would be sure to find out.  
>I almost had a spark-attack when I went downstairs and found him in the Main Control Room, lounging around like he owned the place.<br>"What are you doing here?" I tried to keep my voice as pleasant as possible, but I still didn't trust him.  
>Sentinel gave me an amused look, and gave a light chuckle as Optimus came in.<br>"Shortly after Ratchet got here Roxy, being Roxy, got into a fight with him. They fell on your chest of drawers, which broke, and this was found. Recognise it?"  
>I felt cold as Sentinel held up the medallion, feeling my spark beating fast, and so loud I could swear Optimus could hear it where he was standing right next to me. He was looking at the medallion like he was wondering why Sentinel found it so significant.<br>"This is a rare thing, Clara." Sentinel was saying, "Did you find it?"  
>I blinked.<br>"No. It was given to me."  
>"By who?"<br>I shrugged.  
>"Femme."<br>Sentinel frowned.  
>"What did she look like?"<br>"I can't remember. I was a sparkling at the time."  
>Optimus was giving me a questioning look as Sentinel came over with the medallion. The Autobot leader dropped it into my hands, watching it as if he expected something to happen. Nothing did.<br>Optimus took my hand and pulled me away, gently, as Sentinel sighed, like he was disappointed.  
>"I can't leave the village with only Skids and Mudflap protecting it. Before I go, however, I can't have you stealing my medic away all the time, so change of ranks. I'll take Arcee back with me, and you keep Sideswipe."<br>"But how will Arcee and Sideswipe be able to train?" Ironhide asked.  
>"Consider this a training mission." Sentinel replied with a shrug. "If the next mission they go on is successful, they're full Autobots." He tilted his head and surveyed me. "Same for Clara."<br>He left. Ratchet followed, gently leading a reluctant Arcee.  
>"What was all that about?" Roxy asked me from where she was curled up in the corner.<br>"Nothing." I replied, heading upstairs to my room.  
>I heard Optimus following me, but neither of us said anything until we got into my room. I dropped the medallion onto what was left of the chest of drawers and collapsed onto my bed.<br>"Are you all right?" Optimus asked me.  
>"Yeah. I'm fine." I replied, not moving.<br>He tilted his head and sat down next to me on the bed, carefully picking up the medallion so he could look at it.  
>"What is this?" he asked me.<br>"The femme that gave it to me said it's a brand." I replied, shrugging, "But she didn't say what it's a brand for or why she was giving it to me." I sat up and wrapped my arms around him, resting my chin on his shoulder. "I think I remember seeing her wearing one just like it."  
>I kissed his shoulder lightly, smiling as I was rewarded with a pleasured shiver.<br>The two of us just sat there for a few minutes, just enjoying each others' company. Optimus had his optics closed, his breathing was deep and steady.  
>After a while he dropped the medallion back on the broken chest of drawers and lay back on my bed, pulling me down on top of him, and laying a kiss on my forehead.<br>It was there, cradled in my lover's arms, that I finally slipped into recharge.


	20. Episode 5 Chapter 1

Episode 5

Chapter 1  
>I stirred slightly in my sleep, not opening my optics. I felt cold. I reached out blindly for Optimus, but my fingers only came into contact with cold, long abandoned sheets.<br>I opened my optics and sat up, looking around tiredly. Optimus wasn't there. I got out of the bed. My head was throbbing painfully. I pilled a face and took off my helmet, rubbing the back of my head. I hated sleeping in that helmet. It was painful. I pulled out the clips that kept my long black hair tied up under the helmet, allowing it to fall down to my waist.  
>Now that I didn't have to worry about any severe headaches I left the room. The ship was silent and dark. Everyone was asleep.<br>I noticed a faint blue light through the crack of the door at the bottom of the stairs into the Main Control Room, which was ajar. I pushed it open nervously.  
>Optimus was sitting in the darkness, in front of one of the control panels, the blue light from the screen illuminating his face. He looked tired and stressed.<br>"Optimus?" I asked uncertainly.  
>He looked up and held a hand out to me. I went over and he pulled me onto his lap, pushing his mouth against mine in a kiss. I curled up on his lap, snuggling up to his chest.<br>"What are you doing?" I asked him curiously.  
>"Jazz and I have a mission to plan." Optimus sighed. "Sentinel thinks he's found a major Decepticon base. He wants us to check it out, see if it is what he thinks it is."<br>"Where is it?" I asked him, twisting around so I could see the screen, which was showing a birds-eye image of the place. It looked icy.  
>"Cybertron. Somewhere in Rogue territory. I don't know. Jazz wants to teleport right into the coordinates Sentinel provided, but I don't want to get that close without knowing what we're dealing with."<br>I tilted my head as I looked at the screen.  
>"Bad idea to get too close to that." I commented.<br>"Why?"  
>"I know that place. It's a deathtrap. That's probably why no one's noticed the Decepticons – no one dares go there."<br>Optimus was nodding.  
>"Have you been there?"<br>I glanced at him.  
>"Optimus, it's a deathtrap." I repeated. "So, yeah. I've been there a lot."<br>I felt Optimus shift uncomfortably beneath me.  
>"That's what I was afraid of." He was silent for a moment, like there was something he had to say, but was reluctant to say it. "Would you be able to guide us through safely?" he asked finally, sighing.<br>"Yes."  
>Optimus hesitated again.<br>"Will you?"  
>I frowned. I could see how much reluctance there was in that question. One of Sentinel's favourite rules was that the mission always comes first. Optimus loves me, and I could tell from the way he acted when he was around me, and the way he held me so protectively, he wanted to keep me safe. That protectiveness, and his longing to keep me safe, was warring with his need to make a success of this mission, and being a good leader. He needed to keep everyone safe, not just me. If that meant taking me to what could be the most dangerous place on Cybertron, it was a risk he had no choice but to take. If we were able to take out this base, it could give us a huge advantage in this war, maybe granting us a full defeat of the Decepticons. To do that, Optimus and Jazz would have to be able to get to the base in the first place. If they died on the way there, we had no chance.<br>I didn't have the longing to keep myself alive that Optimus seemed to have.  
>"Yeah, sure." I made my tone bored, wondering how he would react. He gave me an irritated look, seeing right through it.<br>In truth I was excited. Optimus wanted me to be around him. He trusted me. He respected my abilities enough to know I would be of help on this mission. This really important mission.  
>Well, he clearly saw that I had some abilities.<br>I didn't.

"You cannot be serious." Jazz glared at Optimus, choosing to just ignore me completely. Okay. I was fine with that. "There is no way I'm going on this mission if she's coming with us as well."  
>The other Autobots were watching the argument uncertainly, clearly not sure what to do.<br>"Jazz, you volunteered for this mission." Optimus reminded the smaller Autobot. "So you clearly want to go."  
>"Yes." Jazz replied, "I do want to go. So, since I'm going, she's not."<br>"Clara can get us through safely." Optimus told him, "We have no idea what we're up against otherwise."  
>Jazz fell silent for a few minutes, weighing the advantages of going, against the disadvantages of having me there as well. After a few minutes he growled and stalked off, which was a clear sign that he hadn't been able to come up with a good argument to counter Optimus.<br>When everyone was gone Optimus pulled me into his arms.  
>"Sorry about that." He told me.<br>"It's all right. It's not your fault."  
>"I really don't understand why Jazz has taken such an aversion to you."<br>I shrugged slightly in his arms.  
>"I'll try talking to him later." I suggested.<br>I felt Optimus tilt his head.  
>"Um ... yeah, be careful with that."<br>At that moment we heard Ironhide coming back downstairs.  
>"Let me know if you need anything." I told Optimus. He gave me an amused look as I pulled away from him and went over to the stairs, darting past Ironhide as he opened the door.<p>

Jazz was in his room when I got there. I knocked on the door uncertainly.  
>"Who is it?" he called from inside, his voice muffled by the wall between us. From his surprised tone I guess he didn't get visitors very often.<br>"It's me." I called back.  
>"What do you want, Clara?"<br>He was curious, despite himself.  
>"I just want to talk." I replied, "Can I come in please?"<br>There was a moment's silence as Jazz considered it, then the door opened.  
>He didn't even wait for me to say anything.<br>"Look, if this is about you coming on the mission with Optimus and me then you can just fuck off."  
>I blinked, and I could feel my anger rising. That was just uncalled for. It had been Optimus' decision to bring me on the mission, and I didn't feel I deserved to be on the receiving end of Jazz's attack.<br>"Well, I'm sorry, Jazz, if I'm not quite the perfect warrior for you to work with. It's Optimus' orders. Deal with it."  
>I have no idea where that came from, and I was shocked. I wasn't a violent person. If someone attacked me, I would just lay back and let them get on with it. I'd never actually attacked them back. Except when I argued with my dad and Kaitlynn, but that was different.<br>Jazz seemed to be just as shocked as I was. At least, he didn't know what to say in response. He just sat there, staring at me, his optics full of anger. But that anger was starting to recede.  
>"Look, Jazz." I sat down in a chair opposite him, watching his reactions carefully. Before my dad had decided I was a maniac, I had been the Rogue first lieutenant. I'd had to learn how to judge how other Cybertronians were reacting to things my father or I said. Of course, that had been about trading territories and business deals, but it still worked for things like this. "What have I done to make you hate me so?"<br>Jazz glanced up at me and tilted his head, thinking about the question.  
>"Well, I just really don't like Rogues." He said after a minute, shrugging.<br>I frowned.  
>"Is that all?" I asked him, shocked. "You're discriminating against my race?"<br>"No." Jazz said finally. "Ironhide would kill me if that was the case. He doesn't like that."  
>"So what is it?" I asked. I was curious now.<br>Jazz thought again, then shrugged.  
>"I don't know how to put it."<br>"Well how would you describe it?"  
>"It's like, a natural reaction. I just don't like ... you."<br>"Well, what's wrong with me?" I was a little hurt by that.  
>Jazz blinked and looked at me.<br>"I think it's just how everyone else seems to like you so much. You've only been an Autobot for just over a month and you're first lieutenant and everything. Optimus seems to be playing favourites."  
>It was my turn to blink. I hadn't really thought about it like that. I'd been too caught up with Annalease's death and feeling miserable, I hadn't really thought about how hard it would be for the other Autobots, some of whom had probably been working for years to advance through the ranks. They'd be wondering why I was so special that I got through so quickly, why they'd gone to all the bother. I didn't <em>feel<em> special.  
>"You're suddenly quiet." Jazz commented suddenly, jerking me out of my thoughts.<br>"I didn't ask for any of this." I said quietly. "I don't want to be hated." Jazz hesitated as I looked up at him. "I'm sorry for everything. Please can we start again?"  
>Jazz frowned.<br>"Yeah, I guess so." He replied, "I'm sorry too. I didn't have to treat you like that. I could've got my point across easily without it. I guess I just got carried away."  
>I smiled lightly, glad that we didn't have to be rivals anymore. I hadn't even told Optimus my worst fear, but having Jazz on my side now made that fear seem just that little bit further away.<br>I went around to see the other Autobots in their rooms before I went back downstairs to see Optimus again. It only occurred to me then that I had never even gone to the bother of talking to Sideswipe or Bumblebee or Roxy at all since I had met them. It was nice to start trying to get to know them a little bit. I think Optimus was just relieved that I had got away from Jazz unharmed.  
>Since there was preparing to be done on both ends for this mission, I gave Optimus and Jazz the coordinates for the information centre just outside the plains we would be travelling through, and then went to the centre myself. I had to sort out any problems with the time difference between the two planets, and make sure there weren't any huge storms coming our way. We were lucky. The next really big storm was a couple of months away.<p>

Anyway.  
>I'd been there for a couple of days when Optimus and Jazz finally got there. And they brought some unexpected friends with them.<br>"CLARA!" Andi yelled as she ran into the room, closely followed by Alex and Gracee. "We didn't know you'd woken up!"  
>I frowned at the sight of them. A couple of members of staff were giving them funny looks. I couldn't blame them. Our race had never had anything to do with a race as small and peculiar looking as humans before.<br>"What are you doing here?" I asked them; angry that I hadn't even been told they were coming. Surely Optimus or Jazz could've at least given me the heads up.  
>"Thank you for that very nice 'hello', Clara." Andi said sweetly. Maybe those kinds of tactics worked with her parents, but they certainly didn't work with me.<br>"Don't even try it." I told her.  
>"I wanted to bring them." Jazz told me with a shrug. "Sorry I didn't tell you first. It's no big deal."<br>"Send them home, Jazz." I told him, sitting down on one of the tables.  
>"What? Why?"<br>"Send them home, or they'll end up dead."  
>"Is that a threat?"<br>"No, it's a fact."  
>"It's still a threat."<br>"No it's not. I'm not gonna hurt them, but if they come with us the environment will kill them off before they even take a couple of steps out of this building."  
>Jazz blinked. The human sparklings were looking uneasy.<br>"Are you sure they don't stand a chance?" Jazz asked quietly.  
>In response I glanced at one of the members of staff, who was standing behind me.<br>"I'm no expert on this place, Jazz, but..."  
>The femme took the hint and knelt down a little way from the sparklings, just as Optimus came in. He tilted his head as the three sparklings went over to her, allowing her to look at them, prodding and poking.<br>"There's no time to run full scans." The femme said, "So I can't give you any accurate answers." She glanced at me questioningly. I shook my head slightly, and she nodded.  
>"As an approximate guess, I'd say they'd last a couple of days out there. Maybe a week if they wrap up warmly enough."<br>She nodded to the three of us respectfully and retreated, going back to join her colleagues.  
>"So are they coming, or not?" Jazz asked me. He was angry, so he was starting to get snappish.<br>I sighed.  
>"All right, they can come."<br>"I don't think this mission will be over in less than a week." Optimus muttered to me.  
>"A couple of days out there, a couple of days back." I replied. "There are shelters out there. It's not safe to go out at night."<br>"What about the storms during the day?" The femme asked me.  
>I tilted my head while I thought about it.<br>"Cybertronians are safe from the storms so long as they stick to about half a mile away. With the sparklings I'd stay two miles, just to be safe. Speaking of which." I turned to the staff members. "Can I download the Storm Detectors from the computer to this?" I held out a small screen for them to see.  
>One of the males snorted.<br>"Clara, the Storm Detectors are seriously advanced technology. You can't download them onto those little home made devices of yours."  
>"If it was possible, would you let me?"<br>"Well, yes."  
>"Thank you."<br>"But I don't see how you could do it."  
>I pressed a couple of buttons on the screen, angling it towards the computers.<br>"Just like that."  
>The femme that had helped us out frowned as she looked at the computer screen.<br>"How did you do that?" she asked me.  
>I shrugged, bringing up the Storm Detector on the small screen in my hand.<br>"I can do it, I can never explain _how_ I did it afterwards."  
>At that moment another member of staff came through from another room of the centre.<br>"If you're going to leave, this is the best time you're going to get. You don't want to get caught up in one of those storms."  
>Optimus nodded.<br>"Is everything prepared?" he asked me.  
>"Apart from the Storm Detectors and the time difference and maps and stuff like that there was really nothing to prepare." I replied as I followed him out of the room, Jazz following with the sparklings. "We're walking."<br>"What was that back there?" Jazz asked me curiously.  
>"That was nothing." I replied.<br>"What, you're some sort of technical ... genius ... and you think it's nothing?"  
>I smiled slightly.<br>"I wouldn't call myself a technical genius, Jazz."  
>"Do you usually do stuff like that?"<br>"I'm a mechanic. My whole life revolves around stuff like that."  
>Jazz nodded, impressed.<br>"So is that sort of stuff you've just done like, advanced to you?"  
>I gave him an insulted look.<br>"You think that was advanced? You should see my room back home."  
>"Can I?"<br>"Maybe later."  
>"How much later?"<br>"Depends on what happens. How things play out."  
>"All right, Clara," Optimus called suddenly from in front of us, where he was waiting by the exit. "Which way?"<br>I went over to him, looking out. It was just as I remembered it, which wasn't surprising since it never changes.  
>Just the white ground, until it reached the white sky. You couldn't even tell where the ground ended and the sky began. It was a navigator's worst nightmare.<br>I looked down at the screen in my hand, and then nodded in the direction we should be going in.  
>"That way." I told him. "Follow me."<p> 


	21. E5 Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
>"We can't stop!"<br>"We have to!"  
>"But we can't! We have to keep going, else..."<br>I winced as the rest of Jazz's sentence was blown out by the wind. Optimus was watching the two of us arguing uncertainly.  
>"Jazz, if we keep going we'll all die!" I yelled, "We have to get the sparklings out of here now, the temperature is already way too low for them!"<br>Jazz blinked, and hesitated, looking down at the sparklings, who lay cradled in his arms.  
>"Where can we go?" he asked quietly.<br>I looked at the screen in my hand, and led the two Autobots to a couple of planks that had been latched together loosely by somebody in a hurry. I pulled them up, exposing the small hole underneath, just large enough for Optimus to fit through. I hurried the two down and climbed in myself, pulling the wooden hatch down behind us. The tunnel went down steeply, and at the bottom of it there was a metal wall, with a door cut into it. It was like an air lock that could be opened from both sides. We opened it and went inside, closing it securely behind us.  
>We found ourselves in a large cave, with several tunnels forking off of it. It was warm in here, despite where we were. It had been designed as a shelter, to keep people warm at night. Even hundreds of years after it had been created, it still did so.<br>"We'll be safe here." I told the other two, glancing at Optimus.  
>"We should get some recharge. We'll be walking all day tomorrow." I heard him say as I headed into one of the side tunnels. They were like smaller rooms.<br>I lay down a little way down one of the tunnels, pushing my back against the wall. I could hear some familiar footsteps somewhere above my head.  
>"Goodnight, Optimus." I said quietly.<br>I heard him kneel down next to me, and smiled as I felt him kiss my forehead lightly.  
>"Goodnight, Clara."<p>

I woke up to the shrill, insistent beeping of the small device in my hand. Optimus was sitting up across the tunnel from me, eyeing it warily. I sat up as I glanced at the screen.  
>"It's all right." I told my teacher as I turned it off. "Just my dad, it's nothing." I pulled up the Storm Detector, tilting my head as I looked at it, not noticing Optimus coming over until he held out his hand to help me up. I let him pull me to my feet and he kissed me gently.<br>"Do we have time to get to the next shelter before we get any more of those storm things?"  
>I nodded.<br>"We'll be able to get to the Decepticon base before the next storm." I told him, "But if we get there today we'll have to stay the night."  
>"We'd better get going then." Optimus said, taking my hand and pulling me to the main room, where Jazz and the sparklings were still asleep.<br>"Wake up." I told Jazz, slightly annoyed.  
>It didn't matter if the sparklings woke up or not. Jazz could carry them. Still, if Jazz didn't wake up, I wasn't carrying him.<br>Judging by the look on Optimus' face, I don't think he was too eager on the idea either.  
>It took a while, but eventually we did manage to get Jazz and the sparklings awake. Andi was excited about going on this next stage of the 'adventure'. Jazz and the other two weren't as eager to go back out onto the ice. I couldn't blame them. It was freezing.<br>It was late when the Decepticon base came into view; we had about twenty minutes to find shelter before nightfall, when the storms would come. That taking into account how far away from them we'd have to be to keep the sparklings safe.  
>It was going to take us about fifteen minutes to get to the Decepticon base from where we were, and we were taking a major risk. There weren't any shelters nearby, or anywhere between where the Decepticons were and where we were. If we couldn't get into the base safely before nightfall, we would have to teleport out of there quickly, or die.<br>I don't know how long we'd been walking when Jazz started complaining, asking why it was so important to avoid the storms. Coincidentally, he'd just asked this when something appeared in the distance. As we came closer, we saw it to be a Cybertronian. Closer, she was a femme. Jazz was calling out to her, asking if she was all right, why she was standing so still, what was wrong. I didn't want to explain why she wasn't going to answer him. Closer still, and I could start to see her face, its young features contorted in fear and pain. Young features that looked so familiar ... suspiciously like-  
>"NO!" I ran forward towards her, ignoring Optimus and Jazz as they yelled at me to get back. I came to a stop in front of her, staring down at her face in horror.<br>"Clara!" I felt Optimus wrap his arms around me, trying to pull me away, gently but firmly. "Come on. Let's go."  
>"What about Kodi?" My voice was weaker than I had known it in a long time. It sounded like someone else talking. I felt faint. Why hadn't I known?<br>"Clara, I'm sorry, but she's dead. We have to go."  
>I dug my heels into the ice. It hurt, but I didn't care at the time.<br>"Optimus," Jazz was saying, "We have to go."  
>"Go." Optimus told him, "We'll catch up with you later."<br>Jazz nodded and started running in the direction of the Decepticon base.  
>I didn't know what I thought I could achieve by staying, I just knew I couldn't leave her. Not there.<br>I felt Optimus rest his forehead against the back of my head, and found myself shivering with something that wasn't cold as his hands slipped down to my waist, gently pulling me back. When he spoke, his deep voice was soft and gentle, comforting, and I realized with a start that it was the same voice he had used when he'd found me. Encouraging me to go with him, to open up to him.  
>"There's nothing you can do for her, Clara. She's gone." He told me, kissing me on the back of the neck. "Please. Come with me now."<br>I bowed my head and twisted round in his arms, snuggling up to his chest.  
>"I'm sorry, Optimus."<br>"You have nothing to be sorry for." He told me, holding me tightly to his side as we started walking. "You were upset. I acted the same way when I found out my father had died."  
>I rested my head on his shoulder and listened to him as he spoke. We didn't have the sparklings with us now, so that twenty minutes we'd had before was extended to about half an hour.<p>

Jazz was waiting for the two of us just inside one of the side entrances. The sparklings were further inside, getting warm. There was no sign yet of any Decepticons. It was _way_ too quiet.  
>"Be careful." Optimus warned me quietly, giving my hand a squeeze before letting go.<br>I gave him an alarmed look. He smiled at me comfortingly and nodded to Jazz. Then he was gone.  
>"Where did he go?" I asked Jazz.<br>"To commit suicide." Jazz replied dryly, and then laughed at his own joke. I stared at him for a minute, and he shut up. "Upstairs, to check if the coast is clear."  
>I nodded. We were clearly in the basement, so I looked in the corner, where there was a set of stairs leading up to a door.<br>After a few minutes, there was no sound of conflict, no sound of anybody raising an alarm of any kind. Nothing.  
>Jazz and I started towards the door, Jazz gesturing to the sparklings to stay put as we went. As we reached the bottom of the stairs there was a loud crash from above us, and Jazz jumped back in surprise.<br>"What was that?" I whispered to him.  
>"That? Oh, that was nothing. I was ... just surprised."<br>I blinked, and it took a moment to realize what he was talking about.  
>"Huh? No! Not that! I already know you're a coward. What was that noise?"<br>I looked at Jazz, waiting for an answer. He gave me an irritated look.  
>"It sounded like something got thrown." He replied.<br>I rolled my eyes. Genius. Jazz glared at me some more.  
>"All right. Let's here <em>your <em>brilliant idea about what's going on up there." He challenged.  
>I bowed my head and closed my optics, thinking about the events of the past few days.<br>"Optimus isn't going to die today." I told the smaller 'bot. But I was worried. I hadn't known about Kodi.  
>He stood at the bottom of the stairs, watching me with a bemused expression as I hurried up them, opening the door a crack. There was no one out there, so I went out, gesturing to Jazz to hurry up.<br>The corridors we hurried through were completely deserted as we searched for the source of the sound. One way or another, that was where we would find Optimus.  
>I had no idea what was happening, so I could only hope that he was all right.<p>

We found Optimus. To give you an understatement, he was really really _really _angry.  
>"Optimus?" I asked as we came in, "What's wrong?"<br>"The Decepticons knew we were coming." He told us, "They're long gone."  
>I glanced around the room warily as I went over to Optimus, taking his hand in my own comfortingly.<br>There were obvious signs that the Decepticons had been there, and left in a hurry, but Optimus had smashed a lot of stuff up.  
>"Do we even know what they were up to?" Jazz asked, warily coming into the room.<br>"No." Optimus replied, "They took all their equipment with them."  
>I looked around the room again, and noticed something I'd missed the first time.<br>"They left a computer here." I commented, "We might get something from that."  
>"They'll probably have loads of security." Jazz warned as I went over to it and booted it up.<br>"I'll deal with it."  
>Optimus sat down on the floor and put his head in his hands. Jazz came over and looked over my shoulder at the computer screen.<br>"Is that complicated?" He asked.  
>"That's the wallpaper." I told him.<br>"Okay. Is _that_ complicated?"  
>"For most people." I replied, "I'll be all right though. Check on Optimus."<br>"But-"  
>"Jazz, please, check on Optimus."<br>Jazz glanced at Optimus, who was still sitting where we had left him.  
>"Optimus is fine." He watched the screen uncomprehendingly as I hacked into the system, and from there to the Decepticons' files.<br>"Are you in?" Jazz asked, staring at the screen blankly.  
>"Yeah, I'm in."<br>"What have you got?" Optimus asked, coming over.  
>"It's heavily coded." I replied, "I can break it, but I need time."<br>"How much time?"  
>"More time than we've got.<br>I started rummaging around in my tool belt, pulling out my screen.  
>"What are you doing?" Jazz asked.<br>"Downloading it." I replied, already starting the download and the upload onto the ship's computer.  
>"How long will that take?"<br>"A couple of minutes."  
>I looked through the rest of the documents, none of which were coded, but Optimus confirmed that not many were of any relevance to us. There wasn't actually much on there, except a list of some of Megatron's closer Decepticons and their backgrounds and achievements. I downloaded everything that was on there though, just in case.<br>"Where are the sparklings?" Optimus asked Jazz after a few minutes.  
>"In the basement."<br>"Could you go and get them please? We'll be leaving again soon."  
>Jazz nodded and left as the download finished.<br>"How long will it take to decode it?" Optimus asked me.  
>I shrugged.<br>"Depends."  
>"On what?"<br>"On whether I do it myself or get Jack to do it for me."  
>Optimus frowned.<br>"What?" I asked him.  
>"Who's Jack?"<br>I was saved from answering as Jazz returned with the sparklings.  
>"Do we <em>have<em> to go outside so soon?" Andi complained.  
>"No." I replied, "We're teleporting back."<br>Jazz was looking around the room, at the stuff Optimus had smashed up.  
>"Hey, Optimus." He called after a few minutes.<br>"Hn?"  
>"You didn't destroy anything important here did you?"<br>Optimus gave him an irritated look.  
>"How should I know?"<br>Jazz groaned.  
>"You need anger management, my friend." He said, "I'll see what I can do about it when we get back to the ship."<br>Optimus rolled his optics as Jazz picked up the sparklings and deposited them on his shoulder, and I started up the teleport.


	22. E5 Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
>Sentinel had sent us a little gift by the time we got back. An annoying, barking, whining, tail-wagging gift that he had found on the outskirts of Autobot turf.<br>I gave the mutt a week before it annoyed Roxy so much that she ate it.  
>Unfortunately it took an instant liking to me, and Optimus insisted that I name him. In the end I gave up arguing with him and just named him the first thing that came into my processors.<br>Digger.  
>Digger wasn't the type of Cybertronian animal that could talk, like Roxy, but he was smart enough to understand that it was his name. Unfortunately, he <em>didn't<em> understand that I didn't want him following me all around the ship, and decided it meant the world to him to do so. Jazz had 'stuff' to do, so eventually Optimus got tired of my complaining and asked me to take the sparklings home, and explain to their parents where they had been for the last two days. Something Jazz had neglected to do before he took them with him.  
>On the bright side it would give me the chance to get a vehicle mode and a holoform, since I hadn't needed either one before.<br>Thankfully it was late, so no one saw me as I watched the road. I didn't have to wait long before I saw what was probably the only vehicle I could transform into. An 18-wheeler of some sort.  
>Hey, I'm a femme. I don't know cars.<br>Still, I was seriously tempted to pick the tank, just to freak out Jazz...  
>By the time we'd reached Gracee's house, which was closer, I'd settled on a temporary holoform. I would need more time to find one that I was happy with, but this one would do for now. She had short blond hair and green eyes.<br>Scars on my real body appear on the holoform as well, so the scars on my wrists stood out silver against my pale skin.  
>I allowed Gracee to lead me into her bungalow while the twins waited in the cab.<br>What I saw of Gracee's bungalow seemed homey and warm. It was a nice change after spending so long on Cybertron in the icy cold. Sure it was a little weird that there was a large car in the spare room, but ... Gracee's father was a little bit ... eccentric, I guess. He didn't want any sort of explanation as to where Gracee had been. He was fine with her being out and about.  
>The two insisted I come back and visit for a little while after taking the twins home, which I reluctantly agreed to.<p>

Alex and Andi's parents were a lot less accommodating.  
>They were the kind of people who expected perfection in everything around them, and they weren't exactly happy about their only children having disappeared for the last two days.<br>"Who are you?" Their father demanded of me as soon as we walked through the door, the twins near being suffocated by their mother, she was hugging them so tightly.  
>"Clara Reid." I replied, giving them the first surname that came into my head. The only real 'surname' on Cybertron is Prime, and I didn't dare give myself that one.<br>"Um ... She's one of the staff at a new study group we've joined." Alex cut in.  
>Their parents relaxed slightly. I was grateful to Alex for getting me out of that one.<br>"So where were they these past two days?" Their father challenged.  
>"It was an educational visit." I told them, "I'm sorry you weren't informed of it earlier. My colleague, Jazz, who picked them up, was supposed to let you know, and he said that he left a note, since you weren't in. We didn't have a number to reach you on."<br>Their father sighed and nodded, grabbing a sheet of paper from the table and writing down three numbers on it.  
>"See if you can get us on one of those next time," He said, handing it to me, "And I would appreciate it if you didn't take Alex and Andi until you got our permission."<br>"Okay." I replied, "Thank you." He nodded. "Um ... I should be going now. I'll see you later."  
>I left, and the twins' parents watched as I got the holoform into the cab and left. I breathed a sigh of relief as soon as I'd turned the corner at the end of the street.<br>I was a couple of blocks away when Jazz radioed.  
>"What do you want, Jazz?" I asked.<br>"_We need you back here._" He replied.  
>"For what? Is there a problem?"<br>"_Not really. But we want to talk to you for a while before Optimus gets back._"  
>"'Back'? Where has he gone?"<br>"_He's gone to give Sentinel his report. Get back here quickly, it's important._"  
>"Yeah, okay, I'm coming." I told him, changing my course.<br>I would have to explain to Gracee later on. Still, I didn't have a clue what Jazz wanted. If this was a prank I would murder him, if only for dragging me back to Muttley.  
>"So what do you want?"<p>

We were all gathered in Jazz's room. I don't know why Jazz wanted us there. He said it was so that Optimus wouldn't find out about what we were talking about. It was pointless though, as we were going to tell him anyway.  
>"We need to get Optimus some anger management." Jazz said in response to my question. "Before he kills someone. Or gets us all killed because he's smashed up something important."<br>"Buy him a stress ball." I suggested, shrugging.  
>"Is that what you do when you get angry?" Roxy asked me.<br>"Sometimes," I replied, "Most of the time I just run until I cool off."  
>"Well that won't work with Optimus." Jazz cut in. "It would do the job but we need him with us."<br>"So, what?" I asked him.  
>"Clara." He replied, "You are <em>clearly<em> the one with the most disregard for their own life in this group."  
>I frowned at him.<br>"Jeez, Jazz, did you have to bring that up?" I asked him, trying to sound hurt, "What's it got to do with anything anyway?"  
>"It means that you're the one that's gonna do Optimus' anger management with him." Jazz replied, smirking.<br>I shrugged.  
>"Okay, fine. Was that all you wanted me back here for?"<br>Jazz blinked, surprised, and nodded as we heard Optimus come in, and Digger started barking happily in the Main Control Room.  
>"If you'll excuse me, I need a word with my teacher." I said, leaving.<p>

This episode's shorter - I decided to leave it at that so I could fit more into the next one. Sorry.


	23. Episode 6 Chapter 1

Episode 6

Chapter 1  
>"Hey, Clara." Optimus greeted me tiredly as I came into the Control Room, pulling me into his arms. Digger was running in circles around us, barking happily.<br>"Something's wrong." I commented, snuggling up to his chest. "I can tell."  
>Optimus tilted his head.<br>"Not really _wrong_." He replied, "It's just something I'm not sure about."  
>"What is it?" I asked him.<br>He sighed and kissed the top of my head lightly.  
>"Your dad called while you were out." He told me, "Shouri's gone missing. He wants you to go and check it out."<br>I frowned.  
>"Well, where was she when she went missing?" I asked him.<br>"Your dad said she was around the outskirts of the village, scouting. He's given you some coordinates." Optimus hesitated, "He said he didn't want the rest of us getting involved in affairs on Rogue territory, so..." He picked up two items on the table next to him and gave them to me, along with the scrap of paper showing the coordinates. "The camera's not waterproof." He warned me, "So be careful there. If anything happens, radio me and I'll come and get you, okay?"  
>I smiled and nodded and hugged him tightly.<p>

The coordinates my dad had given me took Digger and I to an old abandoned house on the outskirts of the village. I knew that house. I'd heard stories about it, being local. I didn't actually believe any of them. It was supposed to be haunted. I found myself repeating those stories to Optimus as I led Digger towards it, just for the sake of talking. I found myself wishing he was with me.  
>As we got closer to the house Digger started acting weird. Fidgety and whiney.<br>"What's wrong with him?" I asked Optimus nervously.  
>"<em>I don't know.<em>" He replied, "_Don't worry. It's probably just a smell he doesn't like._"  
>"Okay."<br>I opened the door to the house. It was black inside. I couldn't see anything. The bright light outside couldn't even penetrate the darkness. I stepped inside and felt along the wall for a light switch. There was none.  
>I continued on into the corridor, leaving the door open. At least if something happened I would be able to see the exit.<br>After a minute I heard the sound of running water. There was only one door that it could be coming from – the only door I had noticed so far – so I crept over to it. There was a large puddle coming out from under the door. I put my ear to the door, listening for anyone inside, but all I could hear was the sound of running water, and Optimus talking to one of the others.  
>I pushed the door open.<br>It was the bathroom. The bath and sink were running, and overflowing, flooding the whole room. The water was hot, and had steamed up the first window I'd seen in the house, and the mirror on the wall beneath it. It was a lot lighter in here.  
>"How long do you reckon your camera will last in here?" I asked Optimus playfully.<br>"_Huh? Oh, sorry Clara. We've got some trouble back here with one of the sparklings. Just yell if you need anything, okay?"_  
>"Okay."<br>I went into the bathroom, holding onto the sink to steady myself as the hot water swarmed around my ankles. There was nobody in there that I could see, but I could sense somebody in the room with me. I unsheathed my sword nervously. I went over to the mirror and wiped away the steam, only to see the ugliest, most scary-looking thing I've ever seen in all my life. I screamed and stumbled back. The back of my knee hit the edge of the bath and I fell in. I sat up with a gasp, only to see the _thing_ at the foot of the bath.  
>You know Gollum from <em>Lord of the Rings<em>? It looked like that, only a lot uglier. It had no pupils and its skin was brown and shiny, like it had been burnt.  
>It lunged for my head, and I swatted it away. I don't know how, since it would've been about as high as my waist if it hadn't been hunched over. It was like a corpse.<br>I got to my feet quickly and ran for the bathroom door, slamming it shut behind me. I jumped as the thing whacked into the door, giving a giant bang. Then I was running for the front door, which I slammed shut behind me.  
>Digger, who had been waiting outside, was happy to follow me this time.<br>We got a safe distance away and I opened up the teleport, darting through it.  
>I slammed into Optimus, who didn't have as much warning this time, and we were falling. A minute later I was on top of him at the bottom of the stairs, shaking and whimpering as I snuggled up to him for comfort. I heard the teleport shut off.<br>"Never make me go there again." I begged him, "Never make me go there again."  
>Optimus sat up and held me tightly, comforting me, as Roxy came down from the teleport room.<br>"What happened?" She asked as she came over to us. The other Autobots were gathering around now as well, wondering what was going on.  
>"I don't know." Optimus replied, "Something scared her."<br>"This isn't scared." I snapped, "This is way past scared."  
>"What happened?" He asked me, gesturing to the other Autobots to leave, "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."<br>I swallowed nervously, and I told him everything. Now that I was going back over it, it suddenly sounded really silly, but Optimus didn't laugh. He was silent as I told my story. By the time I'd finished the worst of my fright had passed, and I felt a lot calmer.  
>He didn't say anything for a while after I'd finished.<br>"Is there anything I can do?" I asked him eventually.  
>He frowned at me slightly.<br>"What?"  
>"A job will help me take my mind off of it. The air might do me good too."<br>Optimus nodded and helped me to my feet.  
>"I was going to ask Jazz, but since you're offering. Gracee and her father are in the forest car park. Could you bring them here please?"<p> 


	24. E6 Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
>Gracee and her father were sitting at the edge of the forest, talking, when I found them. I got my holoform to go out to them.<br>"Hi Clara." Gracee said gloomily as I approached.  
>Her father got to his feet and came over to me.<br>"Just _what_ is going on?" He demanded of me angrily. "Would you _kindly_ explain to me why a car just ... just ... _transformed_ and try to kill us?"  
>I blinked. So that was the problem Optimus had been talking about.<br>"We'll explain everything." I assured him. "I just need you to come with me now."  
>"No! We won't come with you until you've explained to us <em>exactly<em> what's going on!"  
>Suddenly my exhaustion and what was left of my fear gave way to anger, and I glared at him.<br>"You listen here." I ordered him, jabbing him in the chest. "One of my best friends in the universe died this morning. We couldn't even bury her. About an hour ago I was told that one of my other friends has gone missing. I am _cold _I am _wet_, I just had the _fright _of my _life_ and I am in a _very bad mood_. If you want answers, you'll come with me _now._"  
>He blinked at me, and nodded quickly. He and Gracee followed the holoform back to where I was waiting in the car park.<br>As soon as I got in the driver's side, I shut down the holoform.  
>"Clara, what are you doing?" Gracee hissed at me as she climbed in.<br>"I'm too tired to keep up a holoform." I admitted, "We're gonna explain everything to him anyway."  
>Gracee's father climbed in behind her, and I shut the door and started driving before he could say anything. He hadn't even noticed that there wasn't a driver.<br>We were about half way back when Ironhide got through to me on the radio.  
>"<em>Clara!"<em>  
>I jumped in surprise.<br>"Ironhide! Please, don't do that. I'm jumpy."  
>"<em>Sorry."<em>  
>"Forget it. What's wrong?"<br>"_Hm? Oh, we've gone over the tape from that camera you had, and Roxy and Sideswipe are starting to wonder if you're starting to go crazy."_  
>"Why?"<br>"_There's nothing in the mirror. Just your reflection."_  
>I cursed.<br>"Dammit."  
>"<em>I know."<em>  
>"So now everyone thinks I'm crazy?"<br>"_Not everyone. Roxy and Sideswipe are the only ones being obvious about it."_  
>"What about -?"<br>"_Optimus doesn't think you're crazy, or making it all up. He wants to go and check it out for himself."_  
>"WHAT? No! Don't let him go alone!"<br>I sped up. We were only five minutes away. Surely Optimus could wait for that long...  
>We got into the caves and to the ship. I let Gracee and her father out impatiently and transformed, not thinking or caring about how Gracee's father might react to that.<br>Optimus wasn't in the Control Room.  
>I left Gracee and her father with Ironhide and ran upstairs. The teleport was open. Optimus had just gone through. I darted through it just before it shut, making him jump, suddenly grateful that teleporting wore him out enough that he always had to wait a moment to catch his breath before shutting it off.<br>"What are you doing here?" He asked me.  
>"You shouldn't have come here alone." I told him, panting.<br>"I had to. No one else would come."  
>I went over to him, snuggling up to him, kissing his neck gently. I'd already started shaking again, just from being so close to the house.<br>Optimus wrapped a strong arm around my waist and held me close as he led me inside.  
>I stuck close to him, shaking uncontrollably as he opened the door to the bathroom and ... and nothing. It was just a bathroom. No flooding, no steam, no monster. The floor was perfectly dry, everything covered in cobwebs and dust, as if it hadn't been touched in years.<p> 


	25. E6 Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
>"Maybe I am just crazy." I sighed.<br>Optimus shook his head slowly, not taking his optics off of the bathroom.  
>"No. It all showed up on the tape. This room was definitely flooded."<br>I rested my forehead on his shoulder, drawing my gaze to something on the ground.  
>"That wasn't there a minute ago, was it?" I asked Optimus quietly.<br>"What?"  
>"All that blood on the floor. Oh, Primus, please tell me you can see it too."<br>Optimus looked down, holding me a little tighter in an attempt to comfort me.  
>"Yeah, I see it too." He said after a moment.<br>There was a long blood trail on the floor, seeming to appear from nowhere at the open door to the bathroom, leading down the corridor into the darkness, the way we had come.  
>"Come on." He said, leading me back down the dark corridor.<br>"Please tell me we're going back to the ship," I pleaded, clutching at him tightly, "Not-"  
>"We're following the trail." Optimus said firmly, giving my hand a comforting squeeze.<br>"Drat. I was afraid you'd say that."  
>Optimus had his mouth against my forehead, and I felt it twitch in a smile.<br>"You could've stayed at home."  
>The blood trail led us to a door under the stairs, probably leading down into the basement, just a meter or so away from the front door, which was closed, even though I was sure Optimus and I had left it open behind us.<br>"Great, we know where it leads." I said nervously, tugging Optimus' hand. I was desperate to get out of there. "Now we can go home."  
>Optimus gave me a bemused look as he got his cannons ready, and I stayed behind him as he pulled me close and kicked the door open.<br>I had been right before. The door under the stairs led into the basement. The blood trail continued down the stairs, leading up to something on the floor. I squinted, trying to make sense of what it was.  
>"Shouri?" I called, suddenly making out the femme's shape, even if I couldn't see her face. "Oh, Primus."<br>Optimus had lowered his cannons, looking down into the basement with no expression on his face. I took an uncertain step forwards. Big mistake.  
>Instantly, something grabbed hold of my right leg, yanking it out from underneath me. I fell on my back with a crash and felt whatever it was dragging me – far too fast for my liking – towards the basement door. For a corpse, if that was what it was, it was very strong. Or I just wasn't very heavy.<br>Optimus dropped to his knees behind me, wrapping his arms around me and trying to drag me away from whatever it was. He was putting up a good fight. I wasn't moving anywhere, but I felt like I was being ripped in half. That _hurt_.  
>I didn't want to go down without a fight of my own, and I looked around for something to grab onto to try and pull myself out. My optics landed on the radiator on the wall just above my head.<br>I grabbed the pipe full of hot water that was connected to it and tried to pull myself up with that, ignoring the pain as it burnt my hand.  
>Suddenly the pipe burst, spilling scalding hot water into the corridor and over Optimus and me. Okay, maybe not my best idea.<br>Optimus' grip loosened slightly in shock and pain, and I was suddenly jerked a couple of feet towards the door. Okay, _definitely_ not my best idea.  
>Suddenly I felt agonizing pain through my leg that had nothing to do with the boiling hot water swarming around us. It felt like a dozen tiny knives digging into my armour, which didn't feel so bad – more like gnat bites – but then my leg started burning. It wasn't the water. This pain was much worse. It was starting underneath my armour and spreading from the place where the thing had bit me.<br>I screamed in pain.  
>Suddenly sensing that he was losing this fight, Optimus shifted his position behind me, getting a tighter grip around my waist with his right arm, his left pointing a cannon into the yawning abyss that was the basement door. But he couldn't shoot yet. Not without being able to see what it was that he was shooting at.<br>He anchored his feet against the wall on either side of the doorway and dragged me back. The pain increased tenfold as I started moving back away from the door.  
>Finally he'd dragged me back enough to bring the thing out of the darkness of the basement, where he could see it. He shot it.<br>It fell away with a squeal, and Optimus kicked the door shut.  
>"Are you okay?" He asked me, pulling me away from the door. We were ignoring the water for the moment, though I don't think I could concentrate on anything at that moment.<br>"No." I told him, my voice tight with pain. "My leg."  
>Thankfully it was too dark for either of us to be able to see it. Judging by the amount of pain, it felt like it was being burnt away, and it must've looked terrible. I was relieved that I couldn't see it.<br>"Hold on, Clara, I'm gonna get you out of here."  
>Before he could do anything, the banging on the basement door as the thing tried to get out stopped, and it was suddenly flying round the corner at us.<br>Optimus shot it out of the sky as he got to his feet, more carrying me than supporting me.  
>While the thing was on the ground he opened the teleport and dragged me through it, and I found myself back on the ship, on the ground next to Optimus. He shut the teleport down as the thing tried to follow us through, and its head fell to the ground with a sick thud.<p> 


	26. E6 Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
>"OPTIMUS!" I yelled, unable to take the pain.<br>"I'm here." He told me reassuringly, holding me tightly, "SIDESWIPE!"  
>His yell brought the other Autobots running. I was only vaguely aware of them swarming around us as I clung tightly to Optimus, the pain from my leg flooding my processors.<br>"We need to get her downstairs." I heard Sideswipe saying.  
>"Bumblebee, get that <em>thing<em> down to the engine room and let it burn." Optimus ordered, his tone angry, nodding to the head on the floor as he picked me up.  
>"Jeez." Sideswipe said when I was on his slab and he was able to look at my leg properly. "What happened?"<br>"I don't know." I snapped from where I was clutching tightly to Optimus. "I think it bit me."  
>"Looks more like your leg's been injected with acid." Sideswipe commented. "Right. I'm gonna need Ratchet for this. Can someone go and get him please?"<br>Ironhide left, and the other Autobots crowded round.  
>"All right, everyone back off." Sideswipe ordered, swatting at them. "Give us some space."<br>I rested my forehead against Optimus' neck, hoping he wouldn't go, but he made no move to leave me.  
>The other Autobots backed off as Ironhide came back in, followed by Ratchet and, to my annoyance, Sentinel.<br>Ironhide and Sentinel hung back while Ratchet went to join Sideswipe.  
>"Right." He said slowly, "Sideswipe, you try and stop that from spreading while I make an antidote for it."<br>It was about half an hour later that the pain finally started fading. I don't know what the two medics were doing for all that time, since my face was buried in Optimus' chest the whole time, but it hurt. A lot.  
>I was glad I couldn't see what was left of my leg. The squeamish looks on everybody else's faces were enough to tell me how bad it was.<br>When they'd finally finished with the antidote, my leg had stopped ripping itself apart, and the pain was finally fading, Ratchet and Sideswipe decided I hadn't been through enough pain yet, and jabbed an injection right into the open wound.  
>Since the injection's whole purpose was to grow back all the metal that had been eaten away by the acid, it didn't stop the pain there either. Regrowing things hurts even more than growing them in the first place.<br>After another half an hour Ratchet decided my leg was healed enough that I wouldn't cause any more damage to it if I were allowed to go to bed, and finally RECHARGE. Still, he got Optimus to take me.  
>Optimus picked me up carefully and carried me to my room, Digger following happily at his heels. The door to my room still hadn't been repaired. The room was dark, but the curtains hadn't been drawn. The moonlight was filtered through the window, landing on my bed. Optimus laid me onto my bed gently and sat down next to me. The blankets were cold beneath me.<br>"Are you all right?" He asked me quietly, stroking my cheek.  
>"Better." I replied.<br>He bent down and kissed my forehead.  
>"Sentinel wants to talk to me." He whispered, "I'll be back."<br>He crouched down and muttered something I didn't hear to the dog, and then he was gone.  
>As soon as he'd disappeared Digger jumped up onto my bed and snuggled up to me. I stroked him absently as I listened to the other Autobots wandering around, talking. The sound was soothing. I'd always liked to hear people talking whenever I went to bed early. It helped me to remember that I wasn't alone. There were people I could go to if something happened. If I needed them. If I got lonely. It was comforting. I hated the silence.<br>Under any other circumstances, just knowing that they were around would have helped me drift off to sleep, but tonight was different. It was the pain in my leg that was keeping me awake, as it continued to repair itself.  
>After about five minutes I gave up, and just lay there listening to what was going on outside my room.<br>I sat up as I heard Optimus leading Sentinel and Ratchet upstairs to the teleport, and got out of bed, creeping to the door. My leg was almost completely healed now, but still aching badly, so I walked with a slight limp.  
>I watched the three disappear upstairs. The rest of the corridor was deserted. I limped over to his door. It was open, so I just went in.<br>He'd cleaned up all the mess he'd made after I'd stabbed myself. The bookshelves were back up, tall and proud. The curtains were drawn, the only light coming from a lamp on the table next to Optimus' bed.  
>Optimus' bed smelled like him. I lay down on it and hugged his pillow to my chest, comforted by his scent, my optics shut tightly against the light from his lamp.<p> 


End file.
